Running Wild
by CursedRedRose
Summary: Eren Jaeger has only ever known the world from inside the boundaries of the Maria pack's territory. After a long devastating war with the Survey Corps nobody is allowed to venture outside. Eren always hated the Survey Corps until he met their deadliest soldier Levi Ackerman. As a bond starts to grow between them, their worlds prepare to collide. Can there ever be a way out? Ereri
1. Chapter 1

_Hi and welcome to my story! This is an idea I've had lurking in my brain for a while and it took me ages to write and, to celebrate my first year writing fanfiction, I decided to post it. This is my first fanfiction for Attack on Titan so if anything doesn't seem right about the characters, I'm open to constructive criticism._

 _I'd also like this chance to explain this AU a little more: in this world, humans have both a human form and an animal form that they can shift into at will. There will be a link in appearance with each i.e hair colour, build, etc but the one thing that stays the same are their eyes. That's how you tell a shifter apart from a regular animal._

 _With that said, please enjoy!_

"Eren? Eren!"

Eren's eyes jerked open as he felt a sharp jab in his side, shaking him from his daydreaming. He looked around wildly for a few seconds before his eyes came to rest on a pair of smoky grey irises hovering over him intently like they were checking if he was still alive. He crossed his arms and frowned up at them.

"Mikasa! What was that for?"

"We need to head back." His sister told him bluntly, leaning her head back as she stood up straight but continued to stare down at his sprawled-out form on the ground. "The sun's beginning to go down and I don't want the whole pack out looking for us like last time."

Eren groaned as he sat up and leant against the tree behind him, rubbing his head and giving a little whine at the memory she had brought up. The last time he had kept them behind like this on a scouting trip, it had been long after dark when they had finally made it back to their camp, only to find their friends were out looking for them in the woods and their commander Shadis was ready to leave them out there the whole night after the yelling of a lifetime. Everyone had been pretty annoyed with him for making them all panic and some people had barely spoken to him for a week. Despite that experience and his reluctance to repeat it, he still looked up at her and pouted. "Five more minutes?"

"Eren," A third voice moaned as Mikasa sighed and crossed her own arms in response. Eren turned his head as his friend Armin came into view. He was the only one of the three recording where they had been and rolled up maps were spilling from his belt as he walked. He gently brushed them aside as he went to sit down on a nearby high rock, looking down at his stubborn friend with a tired look. "We've been out scouting for hours now. We're both tired and hungry and you know how Sasha eats everything, we'll be left with scraps if we don't move now. We need to go back."

Eren couldn't argue with that; Armin always had a logical answer for everything and that made it almost impossible to contradict him. He half-closed his eyes at the strained sunlight trickling down on him through the tree branches and he dug his fingers into the soft grass like he wanted to take root there. Even though he knew he had to get back to the camp of their pack, he still didn't want to leave. Outside the confining walls of their campsite was where he felt free and it sometimes took him all his strength to drag himself away from it and back behind the walls that felt like two choking hands around his neck. He enjoyed going out into his pack Maria's territory, the part of the wild land they could move through safely and regularly scouted but he still wanted more.

"Eren." Armin called his name again exasperatedly and Eren could detect worry in his voice as he looked back at him with his eyes fully open. "You were dreaming about beyond the borders again, weren't you?"

Eren defensively turned his head away from both of them so he didn't have to see his sister's disapproval. "And? So what if I was? It's just dreaming, it's not hurting anyone."

"That's not true- it's only serving to make you miserable." Mikasa told him firmly. "You shouldn't be dreaming about those kinds of things Eren, it's way too dangerous out there. What if you ran into a member of the Survey Corps? They'd have your throat ripped out before you could say hello."

Eren huffed loudly at his sister's over-protective manner but he knew her words held a lot of truth as he spat at the ground at the mention of the other pack's name. His pack Maria and the Survey Corps had been locked in war for generations, battling each other constantly to the point where nobody could remember a time there hadn't been a war. The fighting had come to a stalemate years before, when the three of them had been children, as each side grew weary of the endless fighting and losses to their ranks but even though they were no longer at war, that didn't mean they were at peace either. Each side still inspired hatred in the other and they warily stayed away, nobody daring to step into the territory the other side prowled. They all knew the simplest thing could spark the undercurrent of hatred and make it flare up again, triggering more bloody fighting, something that could be as simple as a lone animal shifter in the wrong neck of the woods.

"OK. Let's go back." Eren sighed, giving Mikasa a small smile. She returned it briefly before she hunched over like she was going to fall and transformed, her hands turning into paws before they hit the ground. In her place, a sleek black panther was now crouched ready to run, the sun shining off her sleek fur like oil as she flicked her long tail impatiently.

"Are you guys coming or what?" She asked, her normal voice coming from the panther's mouth with only a hint of a growl betraying she was in animal form.

Armin nodded and quickly went to transform, tumbling from his position perched on top of the rock and landing on the ground on the four paws of a golden Labrador retriever. His bright blue eyes that still looked human and marked a shifter from a real animal stared at Eren as he cocked his head expectantly.

"Alright, alright." Eren shook his head and laughed at them as he got to his feet and transformed. His animal form was a large timber wolf with shaggy thick chocolate brown fur and intense green eyes the colour of the leaves above them. They glared at the two of them as if to say 'Happy now?' but neither Mikasa or Armin gave a response, Armin only giving his friend a smug smile at the fact that they had finally got him to move.

Eren looked away from him with a snort and caught sight of his sister staring up at the sky with a concerned crease on her velvety forehead. The sky was beginning to lose its blue light and in the distance they could see the colours of the sunset encroaching on it gradually, turning it pink and orange as it went on its charge. They all knew it was dangerous to be out at night; the forest was a very different place in the dark and it would be all too easy for even the most experienced tracker to get lost and accidentally wonder into enemy territory.

"Let's go." Mikasa said before she took off in a sprint, her powerful limbs cutting through the air as if to defy air resistance. Eren and Armin quickly followed her, Eren managing to catch up and run alongside her whilst Armin lagged a little way behind them. He was the least athletic of the three, preferring to leave all the running and lifting to the other two, but what he lacked there he made up for in buckets with his mental abilities. His brains were highly valued among the pack and they had helped the trio out of some very tight spots before, usually ones caused by Eren being headstrong and charging in without thinking. That was one reason Mikasa stuck to his side like glue and refused to let him anywhere without her and Armin there.

Mikasa was also renowned throughout their pack for being one of their strongest soldiers, outstripping even the most experienced of warriors with her fighting skills and speed. She was such a great fighter that many of their seniors had passed comment that if there had been more soldiers like her in the Maria pack before the stalemate, the war would have been over long ago and needless blood wouldn't have been spilled.

Eren knew he wasn't exceptional with either brains or brawn but what he did have was a lot of determination, a strong sense of right and wrong that usually sent him flying into any fight he saw and earned him the reputation of being practically suicidal and a curiosity about the world beyond that he feared would never be satisfied. He looked up at the rapidly darkening sky where the outlines of birds were only just visible and sighed. He wished sometimes that he could become a bird; that way he could fly away and see all the things that were described in Armin's books. Armin had stopped letting him see them, for fear he would do something reckless and leave him with a furious Mikasa, but he still remembered every detail. The well-thumbed pages had spoken of great expanses of water that tasted of salt, rocks that reached for the skies and brushed the clouds with their tips, plains of hot sand that stretched as far as the eye could see in great golden piles. He sighed as he watched a great flock of birds caw into the air and swoop west, going further and further until he could no longer see them. There was nothing more he wanted than to see those places but he knew in his heart that they were likely to stay in his head, nothing more than dreams.

OOO

They arrived back at the camp just before sundown, making it back just behind all of the other scouting teams who had already lined up before their commander. They all had the same thing to report; no sign of any border breaks, no hint of any disturbances and no traces of any Survey Corps. Shadis nodded his head stiffly at each one, seemingly pleased with the good reports though his face still held its permanently angry expression with a stare that could wither the words on any soldier's tongue. After they had all given their verbal reports, he barked their dismissal at them and they all trudged to the dining hall, exhausted after a long days' worth of scouring their pack's territory. Only one girl appeared to have any energy left as she sprinted to be first in line, chased by a short exasperated-looking boy with a shaved head and flailing arms.

"Sasha! Wait up, the food's still going to be there in a few minutes!"

"But I'm staving Connie!" Sasha whined over her shoulder at him before she dashed through the door and left him behind. Connie threw his arms high up in the air as he gave a long sigh towards the heavens.

"I give up, nobody can talk to her when she's hungry…" He muttered crossly as he stalked in just ahead of Eren and his friends, barely noticing them as the hall erupted with overjoyed cries.

"Looks like the peace is already gone." Eren commented to his two companions as they got in line for their food and the hall filled with more noise. "It's a good thing we got back when we did."

"You mean it's a good thing you listened to us." Armin pointed out triumphantly. "If we'd stayed behind like you wanted, we would be getting the scraps Sasha left."

"Like Sasha leaves scraps." Eren said lowly as they looked over at the table where the brown-haired girl was devouring a great pile of food like it was her last meal, Connie groaning by her side as he tried to get through his own food before she started eyeing that up as well. Eren looked down at his own plate of stringy salted meat and boiled potatoes and grimaced a little. It had been a while since the pack had gone out for a good hunt and it really showed. How anyone could find this appetising, he really didn't know.

"We haven't been sent out to hunt for a good month now," He voiced his concern to Armin and Mikasa as they sat down at one of the long wooden tables and began to eat. "Do you think there's any reason why we keep being sent out for scouting missions around the borders instead?"

"Nothing's been said to us," Armin said. "But it is a little weird. Maybe they think we have something to fear that could come from outside?"

"Like an attack?" Eren suggested wide-eyed. "Maybe from the Survey Corps?"

"I don't think it's anything that drastic…" Armin hastily added. "They would have told us if those guys had been sniffing around our borders. And surely we would have noticed something amiss if they were, we're all decent trackers."

"Maybe they just haven't made their move yet." Eren said, his eyes flashing. "Maybe they're waiting to catch us off guard. In that case we should be the ones to attack first. If we were to just go over the borders…"

"No Eren." Mikasa cut him off with a glare that could have turned people into stone. "You are not going out beyond the borders and you are not getting involved with the Survey Corps. They are dangerous and I refuse to let you get yourself killed out there."

"I won't get killed out there!" Eren snapped back, his voice rising in volume as he glared straight back at her angrily. "I'm not stupid Mikasa! I want to pay them back for what they did and I want them to suffer too! I don't want to be cooped up here forever just because of them!"

"Still mouthing off about the borders Jaeger?" A smirking voice came from behind Eren that really didn't help his mood. He whipped his head round and snarled when he saw the young man with two-toned hair and round dark glinting eyes standing there, his arms crossed over his broad chest and his lips curled in a sneer as he chuckled mockingly at him. "Personally I think you should go, that way I wouldn't have to see your stupid suicidal face around here."

"Shut it horseface," Eren shot back at him. "Shouldn't you be off kissing someone's ass right now? That's the only way you're ever going to get a mate."

Jean growled lowly at him, his eyes briefly flickering over to Mikasa before they angrily settled on Eren again. It was well-known in the camp that Jean had a crush on Mikasa, one that they all knew he had no chance of ever having returned as the girl barely noticed him unless he was fighting with Eren. Jean refused to acknowledge this though and still went a little flustered around the girl, his face blushing a deep red as he glared back angrily at Eren.

"Like anyone will want a mangy dog like you." He hissed at him angrily. "When the day comes, nobody going to go near you. They probably want someone who's going to stick around instead of get themselves clawed to pieces by a member of the Survey Corps."

Eren stood up, his eyes never leaving Jean's as the bench scraped loudly against the floor and drew the attention of everyone around them. Picking a mate was deemed almost as a sacred ritual in any pack and the subject was touchy between Eren and his comrades as soon they would be of age and able to choose their mate. When somebody became 18 they could ask somebody to be your mate; if they accepted you were bonded for life and you could have no other partner but them whilst either of you were still living. It was a very serious rite of passage, equivalent to giving your heart and soul to someone, and what spooked Eren about it was that he was two months away from his 18th birthday and yet he didn't feel that way towards anyone. Still he refused to let that show on his face, especially not in front of Jean.

"You take that back!" He shouted at Jean, not caring that the other boy was taller than him as he glared with pure rage boiling in his eyes. "Or else I'll drag your ass to the stables and make sure you stay there with the rest of the horses!"

"You little fucking mutt…" Jean's barrage of insults was cut short when Eren transformed into his wolf form right in front of him, growling lowly as he bared his sharp white teeth and his shackles rose. Jean wasted no time in rising to the bait; in less than a second, he too had transformed and Eren was faced with a large chestnut stallion with a white stripe down his nose, a blond mane and tail and a wild furious look in his round liquid dark eyes.

"I dare you to say another word pony boy!"

"Call me that again and I'll kick your slobbering face in!"

"Just try! See how far it gets you!"

"Guys, please stop! You're making a scene!" At that moment, two animals leapt between the warring pair, blocking either of them from making an attack. One was a black panther who snarled at Eren protectively to make him get back; the other was a taller fully black horse that stood in front of Jean and prevented him moving any closer. The black horse gave a soft pleading whinny, his eyes full of worry as he stared in Jean's before he spoke again in a gentle low voice.

"C'mon you two, this isn't worth it. You don't want Shadis to come back in here and put you on cleaning duty again, right? So Jean let's just go back to our table and forget this whole thing? Please?"

Jean gave him a long look before he sighed and transformed back into his human self, followed shortly by the black horse who became a tall lanky boy with soft black hair and freckles peppered all over his cheeks. "OK Marco," Jean said with a small nod at his relieved best friend. "But only because you asked. You really saved Eren from getting his arse handed to him." He directed his last comment at Eren before he turned his back and stomped back to the other side of the hall with Marco in tow, who couldn't keep his eyes from the back of his blond head.

"Hey! You get back here so I can-" Eren words were brutally cut off as Mikasa's paw slammed into the side of his face, knocking him to the floor as he gave a loud yelp of pain. People hurriedly looked away as her eyes glared at them all before finally landing on her brother as he struggled to get up, his paw pressed against his cheek as he whimpered. "Mikasa! What was that for?!"

"For being an idiot." She told him bluntly, reverting back into a human as Eren did the same, exposing a red mark on his cheek. "You said you would stop picking fights with Jean."

"He was the one who started it! Didn't you hear him, he said-"

"I know but you shouldn't have risen to the bait. You have to keep your temper under control." She snapped before her eyes took on a hardness that told him she was being really serious. "Eren I don't want to hear you talking about beyond the borders anymore."

"But Mikasa…"

"No buts!" She almost shouted, her fists clenched as she stood over him. "I don't want to hear it! No more talk of revenge and going over into other territories… Do you even realise how dangerous this kind of talk is? You are my only family, I don't want what happened to Mum to happen to you too…"

"It won't!" Eren exploded as he stood up and pushed her away. "I'm not that stupid little kid anymore who needs protecting! I'm a soldier now, the same as you, and I'm going to pay the Survey Corps back for what they did and I'm going to see beyond the borders and nobody is going to stop me!"

"Eren wait…" Armin tried to intervene but he was too late; Eren had already turned around and stalked off, leaving his half-finished plate as he walked out angrily into the darkness of the night. Mikasa made to go after him but Armin grabbed her arm and held her fast.

"What are you doing?"

"Just give him some time alone. He needs to think… maybe if we give him that, he'll cool off." He sighed deeply. "He isn't trying to get himself in trouble, I think he just feels…trapped here."

"I know," Mikasa answered with a hint of bitterness in her tone. "But we're all in the same situation here. We need to focus on what is best for each other and our pack. He can't just keep dreaming about gallivanting off when we need him here." She crossed her arms with a light huff and stared off in the direction Eren had thundered in. "Maybe once he has a mate it will settle him and he will calm down."

Armin snorted. "I think it will take a lot more than that."

OOO

Eren went on walking through the barely torch-lit camp, his feet furiously pounding the ground until the voices in the dining hall were too distant to make out. All he could hear was the sound of his own raspy cross breathing and the thuds of the packed earth beneath his boots. His mind was too fogged by anger to keep track of where he was so when he finally stopped to look up at the silver-streaked sky, he found he was almost at the walls of their camp. The wall that ringed the camp was an imposing structure, made of stacked logs pointed vertically up towards the sky, each carved with a sharp point to ward off intruders. Up close in front of him, the long stretch of it that ran off into the distance either side of him almost seemed to mock his uselessness and in that moment, he would have liked nothing more than to take wolf form and tear it to shreds. Hot anger spilled through his veins like molten lead and angry tears sparked in the corners of his eyes as he stared up at the tall wooden walls they were forbidden to leave unless instructed.

Why was everyone trying to hold him back? Did they think he was that weak that he couldn't take care of himself? Were they really all happy to languish here behind these walls, never seeing beyond the ends of their noses and their desire for security? He thought of what Mikasa had said and he closed his eyes, letting the water stream down his cheeks. He knew what she was trying to say, of course he did, but he couldn't believe she didn't want revenge on the pack that killed their mother too. Didn't she feel the need to avenge her, the need to get back at them all? He didn't know but he knew he couldn't live cooped up like this. His friends just wanted him to be safe but safety was nothing if this was the cost of it. He looked back up defiantly at the sky, clenching his fists and growling like he was daring it to make a move to stop him. When it didn't and the moon carried on staring blankly down at him, he grinned. Who cares if they think I'm suicidal? He thought. I'll prove them all wrong.

He began to walk down the perimeter, parallel to the logs as he ran his hand across them. There has to be a weak point somewhere, no structure like this is perfect, he thought, pressing against each one with all his strength. There must be-aha!

He froze as one log started to give, yielding under his forceful shove and revealing a small patch of the outside through a small gap. Through it he saw a flash of forest, a hint of dark greens and brown all mashed up together like paints on a canvas. That tiny taste only served to inflame his appetite and he pushed harder, grunting as he eventually made a hole big enough for him to slide through. The log fell back into place with a light thud, like it was apologising for itself, and Eren found himself on the outside, his back against the wall as the expanse of forest stood before him, the barrier fallen away.

For a moment, he just stood there, feeling stunned by the overwhelming possibilities that stretched over the landscape like a blanket in front of his wide eyes. The cold night breeze usually kept away by the walls and their outdoor fires swept over him in its full bitterness, ruffling his hair and making the trees sway in a beckoning dance. The air smelt of pine and night flowers instead of fire and greasy food and the only sounds were the gentle rusting of the leaves and caws of various animals that seemed a million miles away from the loud chatter of the canteen. The full feeling of freedom hadn't hit him yet, slowly fizzing inside him as he attempted to absorb it all. As it built up, he found his face was almost splitting in a wide grin and he started to laugh like a child. He was free, actually, really, truly free.

Like a fuse had been lit inside him, he turned into his brown wolf form and sprinted from the camp. The forest swallowed him up like jaws and the feeling was exhilarating; he thought he would get drunk from the feeling of the wind in his thick fur alone and the night air was enough to make him giddy. He howled up at the moon, shaking birds from the trees with his volume as he charged through the woods, his paws beating the ground and his eyes darting everywhere, not wanting to miss a thing. He had thought the world was glorious before but now everything seemed brighter and the excitement made him howl again. If this is a dream, he thought suddenly, please don't let Armin or Shadis wake me up yet. Please let me have this.

He ran and ran until the trees started to blur and look unfamiliar and the grass felt thicker and heavier under his feet. He slowed down, realising he must have passed their border a little while before and that both filled him with glee and wariness. He slashed at a nearby tree, knowing he could use the mark later to work his way back and he slowly moved through the thick trees, keeping his nose to the ground. Everything here smelt different, the scents tangling in his nose and making him splutter a little when they got too strong. It was all so new and unnerving but he pushed on regardless, not wanting to turn back now. I'll just be a coward if I do, he thought gritting his teeth a little as he thought of Jean's earlier sneering words about being clawed to pieces. I'll be damned if I'll go back now.

He walked on and saw that the trees were starting to thin, gently leading him onto a thin dusty path that swiped through the green undergrowth. He followed it gingerly, almost anxious at what he would find but before those doubts could grip him and compel him to turn back, he turned a corner and stumbled from the forest onto a clear gently-sloping bank. He looked up, startled at the abrupt change, but then he caught sight of the view that stood before him and all his thoughts were stolen away.

The lake that slowly beckoned him closer was like nothing he had ever seen and he felt almost hypnotised as his feet carried him to its lapping edges. He stared down at his boots, watching the brown water go clear as it soaked the toes of his boots and he laughed again in wonder as he lifted his head back up to fully absorb the whole thing. It wasn't a big lake, he could tell that as he could clearly see the bank and all the plants on the other side but it still felt huge; there was nothing that could come close in his own territory. He stood staring at it, feeling captivated; the sheen of the brown water was like a mirror, the images of the sky above and the trees that gathered around it only marred by the soft rippling caused by the wind, making the surface look like a thousand fingers were languidly running through it. Leaves speckled it with dots of green and occasionally he caught sight of a flash of silver as a fish bobbed up to the air before diving back down again. The pulses of ripples made the lake feel alive, like a living breathing thing that was watching him just as intently as he was watching it, and the thought was thrilling to Eren as he gleefully kicked at the droplets forming on his paws. This was a treasure that he wanted to store away in his mind and never forget. He suddenly remembered the pages of Armin's books about the huge bodies of water that sat upon the land like great sunken caves of water and he wanted to childishly squeal. This may not be the ocean but it was a start at least.

He was so caught up staring at the lake in all its midnight glory that he didn't hear the set of slowly encroaching steps that warily approached him. He didn't even realise he wasn't alone until a sharp voice cut through the night air, crushing the serene atmosphere around him in a second like it was a bug under his boot.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in Survey Corps territory?"


	2. Chapter 2

Eren leapt back from the water's edge like he had been whipped, his entire body turning towards the sound of the harsh voice on instinct. At first, he couldn't see anything in the inky blackness but then a pair of haunting grey eyes loomed out at him and he started to back away, his paws slipping and sliding on the wet gritty sand as he barely kept himself upright. His tail was twitching wildly in fear and he kept trying to look for a way to escape but he found himself unable to drag his eyes away from the ones that floated before him. They were thin and pointed at the corners like they were locked in a scowl and glowed the colour of mercury, cold and unyielding as they stared into his own like he was trying to turn him to stone. The moon above them hit them, making them flash silver and Eren froze, stunned by just how hypnotic they were. He had never seen eyes like them before, ones that felt like they were examining his very soul, and he was so focused on them, he didn't even realise he was cornered until he felt cold stone at his rear.

"Well?" The voice snapped again, making Eren jump in fear. "Are you going to answer me or play dumb? I know you're a shifter, you fucking idiot, I can see your eyes are human. So, cut the crap and answer the question!"

Eren watched as the form that held those bewitching eyes stepped ever closer, halting only a few paces from him so they could each see the other clearly. Grey eyes continued to glare at him from the long face of a sleek black wolf that was staring at him with his body low to the ground and legs tensed, ready to pounce. He was smaller than Eren's wolf form and his fur was thinner and clung to his body instead of fluffing out like Eren's did but Eren could see how powerful he was. Every part of him was held captive by muscle that moved under his fur and when he pulled back his lips in a growl, Eren could see every one of his white teeth that sparked in the moonlight. For a moment, Eren could only stare back at this strange wolf, his breathing laboured as his mind went blank but at the sound of his growling, he was shaken back to the situation at hand and he finally regained control of his tongue.

"I'm sorry!" He blurted out, holding up his hands as he shifted back into human form. He was now in a sitting position with his back against the cold damp rocks and he could feel the cold soaking through his jacket but he was too distracted to pay it any attention. "M-my name is Eren Jaeger, I-I was just wandering through the woods and I found this lake… I didn't know where I was!"

The wolf stopped growling and now it was his turn to stare as his eyes narrowly focused on the face of the now-human that was splayed out on the sands before him. "Tch… you're just a pup." He finally said, pushing himself up on his hind legs and shifting into his own human form. Eren looked up into his face and his mouth almost fell open. The man looked to be about a head shorter than him but the stern expression on his face coupled with the still wary stance of his body still made him incredibly intimidating. His skin was an almost eerie white in the moonlight, making him look ghostly, and fringes of his black hair were blown around his face by the wind. He didn't move to brush them away from his eyes, keeping them so firmly on Eren's he wondered if either of them would ever look away. It was only after a long few moments that felt like years to Eren, did he look away and comb over the rest of his body. He suddenly stiffened when he looked at his brown jacket and it only took Eren a moment you realise why.

"You're from the Maria pack?" The stranger asked as his eyes swept over the badge on Eren's arm that depicted a woman's head in profile wearing a war crown. Eren nodded, still holding his hands up as he looked at his arm. There, he saw the emblem he dreaded; a pair of wings crossed over each other, one white and one black on a background of mossy green.

"You're from the Survey Corps." He said out loud before remembering Mikasa's words from earlier and trying to scramble to his feet. "Don't come any closer!" He barked out, trying to sound as intimidating as he could whilst trying and failing to get a firm grip on the rocks behind him. One hand flew to his waist for the standard blade given to every member of the pack and he held it out in front of him, trying to ignore how it was shaking. "Or I'll-"

He was caught off-guard when he heard a small snort coming from the man and he stopped struggling against the rock, sliding back down and landing back on the floor with a thump as he lowered his weapon and stared in confusion at the stranger who now had a large smirk across his face. He saw his eyes glint silver at his antics and Eren felt his cheeks go red.

"Relax," The man said, still smirking. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You… you aren't?" Eren stammered out. He was confused; wasn't he supposed to be torn to pieces already? "Why not?"

"Because there's no glory and no point in killing a brat who can barely defend himself." The man said, his tone low like he was talking to a fool, which snapped Eren out of his fear and instead make him feel irritated. "Plus, I'm not supposed to be here either."

"I'm not a brat!" Eren told him irritably, finally standing up and confirming that he was the taller of the two. It gave him a minor satisfaction but the man only twitched an eyebrow at him. "I'm two months away from being of age! And I can defend myself just fine!"

"Well whoop-de-fucking-do." He replied sarcastically and Eren gave a huff.

"Shut up. And what do you mean you're not supposed to be out here anyway? Isn't this your territory?"

"I thought you wanted me to shut up." He answered in a monotone, his eyes glinting again, and Eren felt like slapping him. He didn't make a move to though; one because he was certain that this stranger could probably flatten him and two because he got a strange feeling whenever he saw that silver spark in his eyes, like a butterfly was fluttering in his stomach. "I'm not supposed to be so far out by myself- no one is in our pack, Erwin mollycoddles us like babies I swear to God. But since I can't stay around those idiots in my pack for a certain amount of time without losing my sanity, I come here. That way I can get my head straight and find some peace."

"Oh… right." Eren felt slightly taken aback. He had always seen the Survey Corps as little more than animals but that reasoning felt surprisingly… human. He could relate to it only too well. "It is a nice spot."

"Hmm." The stranger made a sound of agreement before he suddenly swished around and began to walk away. "And now you're going to leave."

"What?!" Eren spluttered at the short retreating figure. "But I just found it!"

"And you would do good to pretend you'd never found it." He turned his head back and fixed him with a cold stare. Back at his camp, that stare would have had people jumping to follow his orders but to his surprise, the boy stayed put, his green eyes shining with stubbornness as he firmly planted his feet in the sand. He huffed. "Go back home brat before the rest of your bratty friends wake up from their nap and realise you're missing."

"I told you, I'm not a brat!" Eren snapped back, his arms crossed over his chest. "And I'm not leaving yet either. There's nothing like this in my territory, nothing this beautiful at all, and I want to remember it."

He stared back at the man, not backing down even as he turned back around and fixed him with another stare that sent a cold shiver down his spine. For a split second, he thought he would attack him and he uncurled his arms ready to defend himself but instead, he turned away again and walked over to the nearest pile of rocks that were almost twice as tall as he was.

"Fine. Do as you please." He said with a shrug before he leapt up the rocks with the agility of a cat and perched on the top of them, his eyes looking over the water like Eren wasn't even there. He stared out over the lake, his lake, and set his mind into completely ignoring this strange boy. Eren stared at him for a second, stunned that he wasn't being torn apart, before he looked back over the water, ready to soak it all in. He let out a long breath, feeling his irritation leave him as the natural calm of the sight overtook him. He looked over at the stranger and suddenly had a thought.

"Hey, I don't know what your name is."

"Do you really need to know?" The man asked. Eren thought that was going to be his only response and looked back over the water with a shrug but after a moment he heard a huffing sound. "Levi."

"What?"

"My name is Levi."

"Oh. OK."

Both of them fell silent as they each stared over the water, forcefully not looking at each other as the breeze softly rippled the surface. Levi closed his eyes, feeling the cold bitter air on his skin and allowing a long breath to leave his lungs. He rarely had time like this. This was the one part of his day where he wasn't surrounded by the most annoying people on the planet, constantly nagging at him and testing his nerves… yet here he was sharing it with this random brat.

His brow creased. That was just typical. He finally had a night to himself and all he wanted was to be alone. Was that really that much to ask for? The past few weeks had been a nightmare; his pack had been on edge and the air around their camp had been so thick with tension and questions, it was a wonder how anybody had managed to breathe. The uncertain atmosphere had put everybody's hackles up and that had led to tempers fraying- Levi had had to break up more fights in the last week than he had ever wanted to in his life and he could sense the tense environment was getting to him too. He had nearly snapped the neck of the last person who had dared to talk back to him and Hanji was getting more and more unbearable to deal with each day. Erwin, the stupid idiot, had been trying to keep the peace but Levi could tell he was keeping something under wraps. He didn't like that; usually when something was about to go to hell, he would at least tell him and Hanji so they could be ready for it and back him up when they needed to. He groaned. Stupid fucking Eyebrows and his stupid fucking scheming. Couldn't he give it a rest for once?

He heard a flutter of movement from his left and he almost got ready to attack before he remembered there was somebody down there. Yes, he thought with a groan, that damn brat from Maria. What had his name been again? Eren Jaeger? The boy must be sick in the head if he just goes wandering off into the woods like that, he thought. Didn't his mother teach him there were dangerous things out there?

He must have mumbled something under his breath because he heard the boy on the beach below him go "Huh?" Cursing himself, Levi determinedly kept his eyes closed and his face straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge him. He could still feel his eyes on him however and it was making him feel strangely unnerved. He could picture them floating before his own; wide and round as a coin with irises of the most brilliant green he had ever seen. Looking into those eyes earlier had been like staring into the forest itself, the green hues seeming to capture its essence. They had spoken of wildness and sparked with a sense of freedom he couldn't remember ever seeing before in someone else. They were eyes that looked like they would rip through anything, any conventions put in their way, just to be free and for a second, he was tempted to open his own eyes just to see them again. He shut himself down quickly before he could, clamping his eyes shut like he never wanted them to open again. Stop getting so sappy, he strictly ordered himself, there's no need to get sentimental. They're just a pair of eyes, damnit!

He forced himself to focus on something else, putting his mind to imagining what the lake would look like before him if his eyes were open. The sight was so familiar to him, it didn't take much effort to see the water unfurling before him, a stark leathery brown against the greenery surrounding it. He knew from his vantage point there was a willow tree directly opposite him with long vine-like branches trailing in the mud, to his left there was a cluster of smaller trees that were younger than all the others, inexperience made obvious by the slimness of their trunks and greenness of their leaves and to his right, the rest of the beach curled around the lake in a sickle shape, the sand littered with rocks and the dying leaves that washed up there. He could feel his muscles begin to relax as he leaned back, relaxed by the image that came to him so easily. That was the reason he came to this spot. It was always so nice and peaceful and qui-

 _Plop!_

Levi's eyes shot open as the sound of a light splash interrupted the silence. "What the fuck?!" He shouted out loud, only crushing it even more as he darted his head around for the culprit. He soon found it as he heard a cough from his left and he turned his head to stare angrily down at the brat who had dared to make him jump. Eren stood there by the edge of the water, his body bent with his arm out and an apologetic look on his face as he looked back up at the short angry man.

"Sorry." He said, sounding like he meant it as he stood up straight.

"What are you doing brat?" Levi demanded, his eyes flicking between him and the lake like he was waiting to see who would answer first.

"I'm just skimming stones." Eren answered, his voice carrying a note of irritation. "No need to look at me like that."

Levi just scowled at him, giving a low growl that Eren appeared to ignore. That surprised Levi; back at his camp, a sound like that from his lips sent young pups like him running back to their mothers but he seemed unfazed. That was… intriguing, Levi pondered as he watched the young man pick up a small stone from the ground. He tossed it in his palm, looking over the water with a fierce determination, like it was an enemy he was preparing to fight. He drew his arm back slowly, his brow wrinkled in concentration before he hurled the stone with all his might, a cry unintentionally escaping his lips. They both watched as the stone flew away from them, looking for a moment like it would disappear into the sky before it landed, rippling the water as it plunging straight into the lake without a hint of a skip.

Levi gave a snort and Eren looked up at him angrily. "Shut up." He snapped, seeing the smirk on the dark-haired man's face. "I just need to get the hang of it…"

He tried five more times, each one ending with the same result as before. After the next two tries, Levi gave up on watching the hail of stones Eren was hurling into the lake and focused on the boy himself. Eren was getting more and more worked up, his mouth forming a pout with his teeth gnawing at his bottom lip and his eyes ablaze with a stubbornness that only seemed to glow brighter with each failed skim. He was throwing all of his energy into the activity and it was being to show in the flush of his cheeks but he was refusing to show any signs of it. The sight was oddly endearing and Levi couldn't help a chuckle escape him when Eren, in his haste to make his sixth attempt, fumbled with the stone and ended up throwing it into the shallows a few feet away from him.

"Argh!" He yelled out, throwing both his arms up in the air. He heard Levi laughing quietly to himself and he whipped around to face him, his cheeks now red from his frustration and embarrassment. "What's so funny?"

"You're doing it wrong." Levi bluntly stated and Eren blinked.

"What do you mean wrong?"

"What I mean is, your technique is terrible," Levi told him. "You're trying to skim the stones, not kill them. You need to throw it underarm, like you're throwing a disc. Right now, you're throwing it like you're playing catch with your bratty friends."

"For the last time, I'm not a brat!" Eren almost shouted. "And if you're so good at this, why don't you get off your high horse and show me? Unless you're too scared to."

The glare from those green eyes was daring and taunting, throwing the challenge before him like it was a glove he was signalling a duel with. Levi wasn't usually affected by these things- in his pack, he was nearly always being challenged by the new younger members who knew of his reputation. They would try and get him to fight them, cocky sparks in their eyes showing that they believed they could take him, or they would ask him to demonstrate some complicated fighting move with their faces in awe. Mostly he ignored them. He only succumbed to a few when the challenger was particularly annoying or if he needed to stamp his authority. This was neither yet Levi found himself rising to the bait. Before he could even think about it, he had jumped from the rocks and was standing next to Eren, staring back at him with as much boldness as the younger man.

"OK. Watch this."

In one fluid movement that was almost too elegant for a solider, he scooped up a rock from the ground and flicked it across the surface of the water. The stone hopped three times, bouncing on the water like it was made of rubber before it finally sank. Levi gave a satisfied smirk before he turned back to Eren, who was staring at him with his mouth open.

"How did you…" He pointed a lanky arm in the direction of the lake, his finger stuck out straight like he was trying to follow the rock's exact path. Levi chuckled at the dumbstruck expression on his face. It was just too funny.

"This is what I mean," He said, suddenly stepping behind Eren and taking his wrists in his hands as he directed the movements of the taller man. "You don't throw it like that, you have to spin it. It's all in the wrist action, see? Now try it."

He drilled Eren through a few attempts, making sure he had the action down perfectly before he let him get anywhere near a stone. "Pick the flatter ones, they're better for this," He told him, Eren giving a nod in response. Their practise was beginning to feel like one of the drills Eren had to live through and Levi had to direct back at their respective camps but neither found that they minded- it was actually pretty enjoyable. "OK." Levi nodded his head in approval when Eren selected a stone from his feet, a pale slate-grey rock that was the size of his palm and well-worn by the water, making its surface smooth and flat. "Give it a try."

Eren scrunched up his face in concentration, his tongue poking out from the corner of his pink mouth as he stared over the water in total focus. He readied himself with a few strokes of his arm, each time looking as if he would let go but he held himself back at the very last second. Levi was about to tell him to get on with it when suddenly he thrust his arm forwards, letting the stone slip from his fingers and zoom across the surface of the water. It skipped twice, spinning in the air in great leaps like it was toying with the water before it finally succumbed and went under. Levi felt his eyes go wide as Eren started whooping like a madman beside him, throwing his arms up in the air in a crazy victory dance.

That was… unexpected.

"Did you see that Levi?!" Eren excitedly chattered beside him, his face aglow with a childish delight as he punched at the air. "I did it!"

"You did." Levi admitted, giving a little huff at the end. "Congratulations, you can now throw a rock."

Eren stopped cheering at once. "You're an ass, you know that right?" He retorted, crossing his arms and glaring at the shorter man. Levi just smirked.

"And you're probably going to be missed at camp soon." He said, jabbing a thumb at the horizon. Eren followed it and gasped in panic when he saw the night sky in the distance was beginning to lighten, the deep navy blue speckled with silver fading into a soft rosy pink that awaited the rising sun. Dawn was very nearly on them both and he knew it would only be a matter of time before Mikasa and Armin went to check on him. If they found his bed empty, Mikasa would tear the campsite apart looking for him and that was the last thing he needed.

"Shit!" He yelped, suddenly frantic as he quickly shifted into his wolf form. "I need to go!" He made to bound off into the woods but before he did, to Levi's surprise, he turned his head back and gave him a sloppy grin, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. "I'll see you later Levi!"

With those last words, he ran off, leaping into the shadows of the forest and leaving Levi standing there almost in shock. "Disgusting." He muttered, thinking of the slobbering pink tongue as he listened to the sound of his footsteps pound away. He bent his head as he too shifted, flexing his paws on the wet sand with a grimace. It was only as he was making his way back to the Survey Corps camp when he realised what Eren had said. See you later? Not likely, he thought with a roll of his eyes. Why would the idiot want to come back? Still there had been something so earnest and hopeful in his eyes that made Levi think his statement had been very true. He would see that green-eyed mad boy again.

And he couldn't quite bring himself to believe that was a bad thing.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Levi had gotten back to his camp and passed through the front gates, the Survey Corps pack was already beginning to waken. He could tell that the first role call had already been blared across the camp as a few late stragglers were still slowly making their way to the canteen for breakfast, yawning and rubbing their eyes at the sunlight, whilst others who had been more prompt in getting up were heading towards the shower blocks, chatting away and full of energy. Other more early risers had already started going about their day, either doing some of the more menial tasks like cleaning or gardening or organising the jobs of other members. As Levi strolled past, they all stood up a little straighter, eyes cautiously following the black wolf as he stalked towards their main headquarters.

He didn't need to turn his head to see the mixture of awe and respect in their eyes. Everyone in the camp from the oldest man to the youngest pup knew of Levi's abilities; he had proved himself their strongest and most powerful warrior, whether in animal form or not, during their wars with the Maria pack and in many battles since. He was agile, a skilled leader and deadly with two blades, so much so that often his enemies never saw him coming. Even if the occasional cheeky upstart tried to provoke him, he was still held with the greatest respect and nobody dared to mess with him.

"Wolfie!" A young boy cried out excitedly from behind him, followed by a swift hushing from his mother as she undoubtedly recognised who the wolf was and restrained her son from getting nearer. Levi just sniffed. He was surprisingly used to hearing things like that as he often walked around camp in his wolf form. It was something he found more relaxing, being able to smell and sense more and not having to worry about it but he had discovered there was one hazard to doing that; he was always being swatted at by small children. Pups loved to feel fur, whether it was their own or somebody else's, and there was something about Levi's sleek black fur that they seemed to find irresistible. They were drawn to it like magpies to shiny things and it often took Levi all his self-control not to growl when he saw a small pup toddling towards him with their sticky drooly fingers outstretched to touch him. If he wasn't in a bad mood, he would tolerate the petting for a few minutes before going on his way, reminding himself to have a shower as soon as he got back to his living quarters. He had never been good with kids; it was one of the reasons why he had never picked a mate, despite there being many willing candidates in the pack. He had decided long ago at the height of his fighting days that mates were a distraction that he didn't need. He wouldn't be able to keep fully focused in a battle if he was worrying about the wellbeing of somebody else.

Talking of distractions…

"Levi! There you are!" A loud female voice suddenly sang across the courtyard, turning several heads and making Levi groan. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Get lost Four-eyes, it's too early in the morning for your shit." He called out, not daring to look over his shoulder even though he knew he was being pursued.

"Oh, did somebody wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" The voice teased, now coming from directly behind him. "You know you love me really."

Levi was about to make a retort about loving silence more when an upside-down head suddenly bobbed in front of his vision, forcing him to stop in his tracks and almost making him jump. It wildly grinned at him, showing off two rows of white teeth and nearly knocking off the glasses balanced precariously on her nose. Her brown hair was up in a messy ponytail with escaping strands flicking out in all directions and her brown eyes were sparking like they were running on electricity. Levi gave an insufferable groan as he tried to paw her face away but annoyingly, it kept popping back into place just before his eyes.

"Enough already Hanji," He snapped, shifting back into his human form just because he knew she was leaning over him. His body knocked her back and he heard her give an oof noise as she hit the ground but within seconds, that was replaced by a cackling laughter and she had sprung back up again like a jack-in-the-box. "I'm not in the mood."

"You're permanently not in the mood." Hanji shot back, still with a beaming grin on her face as she dusted herself off and bounded to walk beside Levi. He shot her a grimace but let her walk with him, the two making an odd sight as they strolled side by side. He was shorter than her by a good couple of inches but looked far more serious as he strode slightly ahead of her. Meanwhile, she was almost skipping as she walked, her movements so erratic and full of energy, it looked like she was struggling to contain it all and would burst at any moment. They were almost total opposites which only made it stranger that Hanji was one of only a very few people Levi would call his friend and even then, he had to be in a very good mood to do so.

Hanji was the pack's doctor and, along with Levi and their leader Erwin, she ranked among the top members of the pack. She was also highly-respected though in a very different way to Levi- whilst a lot of people were slightly scared of him and his stoic personality, Hanji was more approachable and friendly with a permanently cheery demeanour that always worked to put her patients at ease. There wasn't a single child in the camp whose birth she hadn't been present at, nor any member who hadn't been treated at her caring hand. Her love for medicine was boundless and there had been many a curious member who had asked her a single question only to be bombarded with a lecture that could have gone on for days if Levi didn't step in and tell her to shut it. Her interests spilled over into every other area of science, particularly when it came to studying other packs. She was fiercely interested in how their enemies worked and how different they were to the Survey Corps; Levi couldn't count the number of times he had had to drag her from interrogating a captured prisoner as she would go off on tangents that just spiralled on and on until the poor accused didn't know up from down. Levi couldn't work out how they had become friends, they were so different and he did want to punch her into a wall sometimes, but he still trusted her and he gave her a stiff nod as she sped up and fell into step beside him.

"Are you going to see Erwin again?" Hanji asked him. "I am too, I need to go out on another expedition, I'm running out of herbs and I really could use some-"

"He won't let you." Levi cut across her sharply, ending her babbling. "He hasn't let anyone out except the scouts for weeks now. People are getting fussy and we're running out of things left, right and centre but the bastard just holes himself up in his office and refuses to speak to anyone." He growled a little, already feeling the tension rising in the camp ache in his bones. "I just want to know what he has planned. It has to be something big if he's acting like this but he won't tell us."

"Do you think it's wise to go now?" Hanji said, her voice now laced with concern. "I can tell you've just been out in the forest again, he will be able to tell too. You know how much he hates you going out alone."

"I can handle myself." Levi muttered defensively. "I never go out of our territory and I'm always back in the mornings. I don't see why he doesn't trust me."

"It's not you he doesn't trust," Hanji tried to explain. "It's the Maria pack. Our scout groups have been reporting that their scouts are always patrolling their borders now, they aren't even trying to hide it. It looks like they're planning to expand and if they captured you, we'd lose our strongest."

"They won't try to attack." Levi almost spat out in frustration. He'd heard this all from Erwin countless times and hearing it now from Hanji was just infuriating. "They would dare, they know they'd lose. Their pack may be bigger than ours but it is so backwards in terms of strategy and training, they could never beat us. There's something else going on here Hanji and I need to know what."

He picked up his speed again, not wanting to repeat the same roundabout conversation that was now becoming a regular part of his meetings with Erwin. He gave a sigh as he heard Hanji's pace quicken to try and keep up but he didn't relent. He suddenly wished she hadn't brought up the Maria pack; the mention of their greatest enemy had brought to mind a young man with their symbol emblazoned on his jacket, a young man who had a mop of brown hair and bewitching green eyes and had been overjoyed at skimming a damn stone… He shook his head like he was trying to bat away an insect. He didn't need these thoughts plaguing him now. He had a mission and he was determined to succeed without any thoughts to distract him.

They were now at the door of the main headquarters and Levi shoved his way through the door, ignoring the poor guy who had pulled the short straw and been landed with guard duty. Hanji followed him, shooting the man a sympathetic smile before she hurried after Levi. With the amount of times Levi just barged into the building, she was honestly surprised they still had a door let alone a guard there.

With Levi in full stride, it didn't take them long to reach Erwin's door. There were two men standing outside, acting as guards and at first, they looked over perplexed at the sudden interruption but before they could speak, they found themselves being angrily glared at by a pair of glowering silver eyes that made them both take a cowering step back.

"Scram." Levi barked and the two of them didn't need telling twice, hastily retreating to the other end of the corridor. Hanji once again shot the shaking pair an apologetic look and a shrug just as Levi lifted his foot and kicked at the door, the bang of the harsh sound echoing down the corridor.

"Erwin! I'm coming in and don't try to stop me this time you bastard!"

He stormed in without waiting for a reply and Hanji quickly followed him, not wanting to miss a moment. I wonder if Levi could get any angrier than last time, she thought, rubbing her hands against her temples. Last time, he had looked ready to tear the building to shreds and when she had offered him one of her latest herbal remedies to stress, he had snapped at her (literally in wolf form) and then run off into the forest all night. I hope it doesn't get to that, she prayed to whoever was listening but when she saw the looks on both their faces, she knew that wasn't going to happen.

Erwin, the leader of the Survey Corps pack, already looked irritated. The tall man was sitting behind his desk, his posture slightly bent over the papers he was writing on which made him look like he was trying to shield them with his broad shoulders. His blond hair was cleanly swept into a side parting and his blue eyes were cold as they looked at Levi, holding none of their normal warmth. His thick eyebrows that had earned him a few nicknames around the camp were pinched in a stern frown and his mouth was pressed into a thin line. His fingers looked about to snap the pen they were curled around and as he straightened up, the air stung with the authority he held. Erwin Smith had been in charge of the Survey Corps pack for many years and was widely renowned as one of the greatest leaders the pack had ever had. He had been in charge of their fighting forces for the last years of their war with the Maria pack and had been made leader not long after peace had been achieved. He was a firm but fair leader, hearing out every member of the pack and treating them all with respect. In return, he had all their loyalties and many of them would have followed him to the ends of the Earth if he had asked. He was also totally opposite to Levi; where the shorter man was course and rude, Erwin was charming and friendly even though he was still very scary when he was angry. Hanji could feel the tension in the room bristling on her skin and it only got worse when Erwin spoke.

"Levi, I'm busy at the moment." He said, his voice not even trying to conceal his annoyance and Levi's scowl darkened. Erwin was another person that he considered a friend; the two had fought together in the war with Levi serving under Erwin and naturally he had a lot of respect for him. However, just because they were friends didn't mean he held back when he disagreed with his leader and their arguments were often explosive. "I don't have time to waste on your questions right now."

"Then save yourself future disturbances and tell me what the fuck is going on." Levi somehow managed to say in a level voice. "You can't expect me not to notice how we haven't been on any hunting trips or supply runs for weeks. People are getting antsy and I don't have a fucking clue what to tell them. If you just gave me something, then I could explain it…"

"I've told you before, I can't tell you." Erwin said, almost with a sigh. "This is a dangerous and delicate matter and I cannot risk anything going wrong. If I could tell you and Hanji, believe me, I would have by now."

"But there's no reason you can't!" Levi's fists were clenched now and he was having to restrain himself from thrusting them into the man's perfect face. "You're being ridiculous! We're the closest in rank to you and your friends, aren't you supposed to trust us already? What do we have to do?!"

"Levi." Erwin snapped firmly and Hanji flinched when she saw Levi had fallen silent. "There's no question that I trust you, of course I do. I've fought and worked with you both for a long time and I know you both are loyal. However, in this matter you have to trust me when I tell you that I know what I'm doing. Everything I've ever done has been for the good of this pack and you have to take my word for it that this is the same. For this to work, everything has to run smoothly and I cannot have anything jeopardised."

"Are you saying we would jeopardise any plans of yours?" Levi growled.

"Not intentionally." Erwin explained and Levi gave another growl that Erwin stilled by raising his hand. "But if you knew what I was planning, you may both give it away by your actions and that wouldn't be good for the pack. I know the atmosphere is tense; I don't want to make it any worse than it needs to be."

"But…"

"No buts Levi." Erwin said, using his most authoritative tone that sent other pack members running to do as he commanded. "This will all be for the greater good in the end. Now I need both of you to leave. I'm still very busy."

He ducked his head back down to his work but Levi showed no signs of moving. His eyes were staring down at Erwin's desk, looking like they would be happy to turn the thing to dust. It wasn't 'til Hanji tugged on his arm and motioned towards the door did he finally move, shrugging her angrily away and giving one last glare over his shoulder at Erwin before he left.

"This isn't over Erwin." He said as he stalked out of the door, once again causing the guards who had returned to their places to cower. The door swung shut behind him, making the walls shake and Erwin and Hanji stood there as the sound of his footsteps pounded away from them like a skittish heartbeat. Hanji sighed and looked around at Erwin who was looking back down at his work.

"Erwin…"

"I don't want to hear it." He said quickly, already lifting his pen and beginning to write. When he heard her breath hitch, he gave a sigh and turned to her, looking genuinely sorry. "I know this is hard on all of you but in time you will understand." When Hanji made no attempt to move, he gave another sigh, this one longer and deeper. "If I agree to you going on another herb-collecting trip, will you be satisfied?"

"Thanks Erwin!" Hanji's demeanour instantly transformed as a beaming grin came over her face and she clapped her hands in excitement. "I'll get on that straight away! I can't wait to fill up all my stocks again. Oooh, maybe I'll find that rare herb again, they say it can musk any scent…"

"Hanji." The woman had rushed to get out of the door and be off hunting already but she froze at the tone her leader suddenly used on her. "Please try to make Levi see my point of view. I know he's frustrated but I can't have him wrecking this for the pack."

"I have tried Erwin but he won't listen. You know what he's like, if you just…"

"You'll have to try harder then." Erwin spoke softly. "And so will I. I just need him to see it. And also, can you try and stop him running away into the woods again? He's not supposed to be out there and we all know it."

Hanji just laughed. "Erwin, you and I both know he's already gone." She smiled before she trotted out of the room. She transformed in the doorway, too excited to wait until she was out of camp, and when Erwin looked back up, a spotted lynx was staring back at him, its wide amber eyes alive with mirth. "And it will take a lot more than you and me to stop him doing that."

She bounded away before Erwin could open his mouth for a reply and he sank back into his chair, back to being alone with his paperwork. He gave another sigh that was halfway between relieved and despairing. He couldn't decide what was harder; being leader of the whole pack or just being the leader of those two.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey, long time no see everyone..._

 _I know it has taken me a long time to update but I have had my uni exams to take up my time, not to mention I sort of forgot what plot was... thankfully it is summer now and I do have time and I've come up with a plot so updates will be coming soon!_

 _Please enjoy and leave a review, it will make me write faster!_

The following day, Eren couldn't help but feel like he had an itch right at the back of his head. It was like a little worm had burrowed itself inside his brain, refusing to leave him alone as it niggled away at him. Every time he tried to focus on something that wasn't the previous night, it seemed like the little worm would wriggle and bring it all flooding back, creating a picture so vivid in his head, he could almost smell the scent of the forest envelop him and hear Levi's blunt voice in his ear. For some confusing reason, Levi was always at the forefront of these memories, almost like he had barged his way in there and refused to leave and, if Eren was honest, he couldn't say he really minded.

He had only just gotten back to the camp in time, squeezing his way through the gap in the wooden wall right as the bell rang and everyone started heading to breakfast. He had thought he had gotten away with it but the second his foot had stepped through the canteen door, he had been pounced on by Mikasa who had gripped his shoulders like she was trying to break the bone as she demanded to know where he had been last night.

"Where were you last night! And don't you dare say you were in bed!" She had close to screamed, making the entire canteen either avert their eyes from her rage or look up to watch the fireworks. "Armin and I waited in your dorm all night to see if you would come back and you didn't! We were worried sick! I was ready to search all the other dorms in the camp! Where were you?!"

"I was just around camp, OK?" Eren had said, pushing her away before his shoulders cracked but taking her hands to squeeze them reassuringly. "I was so angry that I took a long walk around camp to try and let off some steam and I must have transformed and curled up to go to sleep… I only just woke up somewhere on the ground and then I made my way here. I'm really sorry for worrying you, I wasn't thinking last night." He had then given her his most apologetic expression, pouting a little and widening his eyes in the way that had always gotten him out of trouble with their mother. "It won't happen again, I promise. And I'll try to stop picking fights with horse-face. I mean it."

"Eren." Mikasa had sighed but she looked more relieved to have him back and less likely to kill him after that. She kept a closer eye on him than usual when they were sent out for yet another scouting mission but that was pretty normal and he found himself able to ignore it as they sped through the woods. There was a big smile on his face as he carried out their duties, one he found he couldn't will away even when he tried. Running through the woods with his two closest allies beside him felt good but it couldn't compare to the rush he had felt last night when he had been alone and free under the moonlight, running like he could become one with the wind. The one drawback of that was that the tug of the forest was now stronger than ever; he could feel it luring him almost physically back into its arms and dragging himself back to camp after they had finished scouting was even harder than usual. Still, he kept his smile all through dinner, not complaining about the thin broth or rising to Jean's taunts even once, despite how much he had really wanted to wipe the smirk off the young man's face as he sneered at him for stupidly getting lost.

Mikasa had looked proud of him when they left the table without even a hint of a fight but Armin had seemed a little suspicious. Eren had sensed the pair of blue eyes on him all day as they had been out in the woods, seemingly taking note of every yawn Eren made and every time he looked distracted. He had also been scrutinising Eren's smile all throughout dinner and afterwards, the blonde had been insistent on seeing him put to bed in his dorm. Eren had insisted he was fine and that he was just a little tired but when he got back to his dorm, Armin had just stood there in the doorway, his arms crossed as he kept a watchful eye on his friend as he got ready for bed.

He must be waiting for me to go to sleep, Eren thought with a low groan as he yanked off his boots and sank under the sheets. He could feel his tiredness pricking at his eyelids but he didn't want to fall asleep and potentially miss Levi again. He let his eyes close and kept the rise and fall of his chest steady, making it look like he had quickly gone to sleep as he buried himself as far under the blankets as possible. Armin finally seemed satisfied when he gave a snore and Eren nearly cheered when he heard the door quietly close and his footsteps quietly echo away. Now he could do what he had been aching to do all day.

The second the footsteps faded away to nothing, Eren hastily untangled himself from his blankets and reached for his boots and jacket, nearly falling off the bed in the process. He was so excited he could barely keep still, the springs under his bed groaning weakly as he bounced to gather his things and pull them on. His fingers were shaking as he yanked on his boots like they were impatient to form into paws and it took him all his effort to keep quiet as he snuck out of the small hut and ran to the wall.

It didn't take him long to find the spot in the wall as that morning, he had marked it with a small claw mark sliced into a jagged line. To anyone else it would have just looked like another scratch on the wall but, to him, the shape was reminiscent of a key, long and thin with what looked like teeth at one end and a fancy knot on the other. He chuckled when he felt its ridges in the wall and pushed the log back, allowing the forest air to wash over him again. In a way, it was apt as it was like a key, a key that allowed him to escape and be free.

He easily slipped through the gap, being careful as he let the log fall so it wouldn't crash back into place and wake the whole camp up, before he shifted into his wolf form and bounded away. Throwing himself back into the forest was like jumping into a warm bath at the end of a long day and Eren felt rejuvenated as he galloped through the trees, weaving in and out of them like he was trying to stitch it all together. He looked upwards at the sky again and let out another joyful howl like he was thanking it. It felt like a repeat of last night, with the same rush of high emotion coursing through his veins, but tonight was different. The night before he hadn't had a care about where he would end up whilst tonight he had a set location that swam clearly before his eyes. He was going to see that lake again, he wanted it so badly it felt like a need that he couldn't have denied himself. And if he got to see Levi… that would make it even better.

He wasn't sure how he found his way back to the lake; it was almost like he was being guided purely by instinct as he could barely picture the route he had taken last night. Still, in what seemed like no time at all, his paws somehow found themselves once again by the side of the lake, the water reaching up to lap at them like they were greeting an old friend. Eren grinned down at the wet sand. It felt cold and clammy under the pads of his paws but in a strange way, he liked the feeling.

He had just lifted his head up to gaze back over the water when he heard a snuffling sound. He jumped back, suddenly remembering that this was Survey Corps territory and readying himself for an attack, but none came. He let out a breath, trying to steady his racing heart, before he looked up at the stack of boulders a little way off and his face cracked into a smile at what he saw there.

Levi was lying there on top of the rocks, a green cape draped over his shoulders and his eyes closed in a deep sleep. He was in human form but his body was curled up like an animal's, his knees almost touching his chin and his arms tightly holding them there like he would shatter if he let go. His black hair was tousled and falling into his face but the strands weren't enough to shield his serene expression from Eren's eyes as he slowly dared to go closer. Eren knew that approaching the sleeping man was most definitely a bad idea- he had seen what he was capable of the night before and he knew if he woke him up, Levi would act first and ask questions later but he couldn't help himself from drawing closer to him. As he quietly moved, he couldn't take his eyes away from his face. The night before, the man had seemed permanently tense, the frown lines etched onto his forehead seeming permanently carved there. Now in sleep, they were all gone and he looked at peace, his smooth face making him look years younger. In the moonlight, his skin looked like pearl and his tightly wound body appeared almost vulnerable, like the dark forest around was closing in on him and he was defenceless.

Eren shifted back into his human form and climbed up the rocks until he was only a few feet away from the small sleeping man. He was torn about what to do; on one hand, he wanted to wake him up so they could talk and maybe skim stones again but on the other, he was certain the man wouldn't shy away from killing him if he was disturbed. Unsure, he lingered there and watched him, getting more and more uneasy about it. I can't just stay here staring at him sleep, that's just creepy! He agonised, trying not to drink in as much of Levi's soft expression and fluttering of breath as he could but finding he couldn't drag himself away. He was considering whether to just run home and come back another night when Levi gave a little groan and one eye twitched open, flashing silver in the light. Eren felt himself freeze up in fear as the eye looked around blearily, its partner blinking open slowly just before they both fell on him.

For a split second, the two of them just stared at each other, Levi's eyes going wide in shock as Eren lowly whimpered. Then, almost like he had been struck by lightning, Levi shot upright, his feet automatically going into a battle stance as his hands reached for his blades.

"What the fuck brat?!" He loudly barked at Eren, making him jump back and fall off the pile of rocks. He hit the beach below with a thud and a yelp of pain but he had no time to recover as before he could even sit up, Levi had leapt down after him and whipped out his weapons, holding the tip of his blade inches from his throat. Eren gulped as he stared up into his face, breathing heavily as he tried to keep his body from shaking. It felt like an age before Levi finally lowered his blades and sheathed them both in his belt, giving a grunt as he did so. It was only then when Eren realised he too was panting.

"What was the meaning of that, you idiot?!" Levi asked him scathingly, glowering at him as he shakily got back to his feet. "I nearly skewered you! Why did you creep up on me like that brat?!"

"I didn't mean to creep up on you!" Eren shouted back, feeling his face flush with both anger and embarrassment. "And I keep telling you, stop calling me a brat!"

"I'll stop calling you a brat when you stop acting like one." Levi huffed. "Get off the ground before you get all filthy."

Eren glared at him as he scrambled to his feet, feeling a little more secure now he was standing up and clearly taller. He brushed the sand off his cloak as Levi continued to closely scrutinise him, making a tutting sound as Eren batted angrily at his uniform like he was trying to clean a carpet.

"No, you idiot," He snapped at him when Eren stopped with traces of shimmering grey grit still all over him. "Don't those morons at Maria teach you how to clean yourselves? Come here." Suddenly, he was running his hands over him as he rubbed away the sand, causing Eren to freeze up as he let the shorter man manoeuvre him into place. He could feel his cheeks grow hot as Levi fussed over him- he had never had this kind of treatment before. Sure, his mother or Mikasa used to spend time cleaning him but he was certain their hands had never felt this hot against his skin nor had he been so aware of the trails of fire they left behind. He found himself holding his breath as Levi's fingers skimmed over his torso and brushed at his shirt, only letting it out when he finally removed them and went to wipe them over with a handkerchief in his pocket.

"Pups these days." Eren heard him mutter under his breath before Levi fixed him with another glare and asked him a question.

"What are you doing back here? I thought I told you this was Survey Corps territory, you shouldn't be here."

"I did say I would see you later." Eren responded with a grin. "I wanted to come back and see you."

Levi narrowed his eyes. Come back and see him? Why would the kid want to do that? Didn't he know who he was? Fighting back the slight leap in his chest, he gave a snort. "If you really knew who I was, you wouldn't want that." He said simply, letting a sigh escape with his breath. "If you knew what I was capable of, you'd run back to your camp and never leave."

"Like I'd ever do that." Levi was surprised to hear Eren snort with a level of bitterness he wouldn't have expected from someone so young as he kicked at the ground, scuffing the smooth line of sand. "The last thing I want to do is stay cooped up in my camp. You don't have a clue what it is like in there."

"Maybe I don't." Levi said. It was true; when he had been Eren's age, he hadn't been in a pack. It had just been him and his mother living by themselves. Back then the idea of being in a camp and not having to look over your shoulder all the time had been completely foreign to him and he suddenly wondered if he would have ever wanted to be in Eren's position. "But at least it's safe there. That's the whole point of it, to keep you brats safe."

Eren snorted again. "Well then we have to pay a high price for our safety. We're like cattle in there, just being herded around and waiting for our next order. If we ever try to question anything we just get shut down, like we're a bunch of mangy dogs." He gave a low growl and Levi saw his eyes flash into a dark jade colour, one that was both terrifying and thrilling at the same time. "There are times I just want to leave and never go back."

"Well, why don't you?" Levi asked. His voice sounded sarcastic but inside, he was genuinely intrigued. He could understand the urge to leave; he had had the same thoughts about running away at points in his life and even now, he could still see its appeal. It was seemingly true what they said; you could take the man out of the wild but not the wild out of the man.

"Aside from the obvious chances of being ripped apart by another pack?" Eren said, his voice filled with bite before Levi huffed at him and he continued sounding more normal. "I couldn't leave my sister and my friend in there. They are my family, I couldn't leave without them."

"Why don't you just leave with them? If you're all unhappy…"

"They would never agree to it." Eren interrupted, ignoring how Levi raised an eyebrow at him. "Mikasa specially. She thinks it's far too dangerous out there and that I'm just going to get myself hurt."

"I can't imagine why." Levi said bluntly and Eren almost gave himself whiplash with how fast he jerked his head back.

"What makes you say that?!" He snapped and Levi couldn't help the corners of his lips from curling into a smirk. He couldn't deny that the kid had fire and it was quite enjoyable to see him riled up.

"Oh, nothing much. Just the fact that you snuck away from your camp in the middle of the night to visit another pack's territory and then crept up on a sleeping man who nearly ended up slicing you in half." He replied, watching how Eren's cheeks flushed red with anger. He liked that colour. It reminded him of a sunset with the way it slowly spread across his face and it went well with those deep green eyes that were currently flashing at him in anger.

"Says you!" Eren close to yelled back. "You're the one who was lying there open to attack! How long were you even there for?! You look like you were there all day!"

"I was." Levi said, enjoying how that seemed to take all the wind out of Eren's sails. "My pack leader has really been bugging me these last few days; he seems to want to hide everything he's doing and it is driving me crazy. It's like he's just not listening to us."

"I know the feeling." Eren said with a bitter laugh. "It just seems like whatever we do, we're just swept under the rug and ignored. And it's always for the greater good of the pack too."

Levi made a surprised sound of agreement, slightly stunned at the fact Eren had seemingly summed up his feelings in just a few simple words. Arguing with Erwin these last few weeks had been like arguing with the wall around his camp- whatever he said it just wasn't going to move. He slumped back against the rocks behind him, shuddering at their dampness as he slid down into a sitting position and stared over the water. It was relaxing that way; here there was nobody who could annoy him by holding stuff back, here there was no aggravation, there was just him and the water and a brat with nice eyes who was a lot easier to talk to than most of the people back at camp.

He opened his eyes and turned his head back to see Eren was still standing awkwardly a few steps behind him, his toes making random trails in the sand as he tried too hard not to stare at Levi. "Hey Eren," Levi barked, nearly making him jump clean into the air. "Are you going to come sit down with me or are you going to just stand there like a brat?"

"I'm not a brat!" Eren said but he sounded too happy for there to be any bite in his words as he bounced over to Levi's side and flopped down next to him. Levi knew that if he looked slightly to his left, he would catch Eren's beaming grin and he could feel him close to vibrating with happiness despite the gap between their shoulders. The change was astounding- just a minute ago, he had almost been consumed with rage and now he looked like he had just been given a puppy. Levi hadn't met somebody who had this much enthusiasum and emotions since Hanji and even then, she was just crazy not emotional. He would have thought this would be annoying (he wanted to stab Hanji enough as it was when she got in one of her scientific moods) but in Eren it was strangely endearing. He sighed. He must be going mad.

The two of them sat in a peaceful silence for a few minutes, just watching the water run towards and then away from them under the moonlight, the ripples moving like they were endlessly teasing them. Then Eren turned his head to face Levi and asked him a question, almost out of the blue.

"What is it like? At the Survey Corps."

Levi didn't even turn his head. "Why do you want to know?"

"I want to see if it is any different from Maria," Eren answered so honestly, Levi couldn't even begin to believe he had ulterior motives. This boy is like an open book, he thought. He couldn't be a spy even if he tried. "I just wondered if they were the same, that's all. As we're in similar positions and all…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Levi could see he was nervously fidgeting with his fingers, waiting hesitantly to see if he had gone too far. He seemed almost pleased to think that the pair of them were in the same position in their camp and the thought made Levi nearly snort again. Eren was a scout just out of puphood; he was probably on one of the lowest ranks in his pecking order whilst Levi was the unofficial second-in-command. Heck, he could have been leading the Survey Corps if he had wanted to; he had just never been interested in the political side like Erwin had. All he had known was fighting and so that was what he had stuck to, even when he had nearly got himself killed over it.

Realising Eren was still waiting for an answer, he shrugged his shoulders and made a neutral-sounding noise. Why shouldn't he tell the kid a few things? Not important shit obviously, he wasn't stupid- just things about his everyday life. For some reason, he suspected Eren would be happier with that and somehow, that only made him more endearing in his eyes.

"Well, our pack is a lot smaller so everyone pretty much knows everyone," He started, hearing Eren inhale in relief before he shuffled sideways and that action made his mouth twitch into a smile. "I don't really have too many friends; everyone seems to think I'm a little cold and stand-offish."

"Well, I can't imagine why." Eren said in an almost-perfect imitation of his words earlier and Levi had to catch himself before he laughed. Damnit, I must be going crazy, he thought. I thought I was long past the stage where a pair of pretty eyes and some good humour would sway me. I'm not a teenager anymore. He angled his head to glare at Eren instead but found the boy was smiling again, his mouth so wide and joyous, all the insults in Levi's mouth suddenly dried up. Sharply, he jerked his head back to the water and continued, not wanting to focus on those eyes and that smile anymore least he stop speaking and look like an idiot.

"Anyway, the person I'm probably closest to is Hanji. She's the craziest bitch you'll probably ever meet in your life; she's nuts about science and she'll want to strip off all your clothes and experiment on you the second she meets you. The first time I met her, she was trying to stuff some herby shit down my throat and I almost ripped her arm off." He heard Eren gulp and he wanted to laugh again. "Still, she may be annoying and insane but I don't know what the camp would do without her. She's cured more diseases than I've taken shits and even though she's hyper all the time, she's a good listener. Plus, having her as a friend made the other pack members less scared of me- apparently, she brings out my human side."

"Wow," Eren said. "If this is you with a human side, I'd hate to see you without it." He giggled, even as Levi glared at him, but the next words out of his mouth took him by surprise. "She sounds really nice though. She kinda reminds me a little of my friend Armin- he's a lot quieter by the sounds of your friend but he's really smart. He's always reading, when we were younger we couldn't get his head out of a book. He knows so much about our territory, it's scary and he's logical about everything. He may not seem threatening when you first see him but he's got enough brains to hold his own. That's why nobody in the camp goes to fight him because he pretty much knows all their weaknesses and uses them against you without mercy."

"Sounds like a smart kid." Levi answered. "Is this one of the kids you see as family?"

Eren nodded. "I've known him since I was born, I couldn't leave him behind. I wouldn't know what to do without him."

"From the sounds of it, you'd end up wondering into a tree and banging that thick head of yours." Levi responded, making Eren huff and shove at him. He effortlessly blocked it however and let his hand drop; he could have broken his finger if he wanted to but something inside him was telling him not to hurt the brat. He put it down to the same feelings as earlier; there was no glory in hurting a pup, especially if they were the only ones there. "What about your other family? You mentioned a name earlier, who was that?"

"You mean Mikasa?" Eren asked and Levi gave a nod. "She's my sister."

"You mean there are more of you?" Levi sounded horrified and Eren had to laugh, the sound so loud and happy Levi almost pressed a hand to his cheek to see if it was heating up. Something must be wrong with me, he thought. Maybe I do need to actually drink that herby shit of Hanjis…

"No, she's not actually a blood relative of mine. It's pretty complicated." Eren went on to explain, one hand dropping down from his lap to trace patterns in the silvery sand. "Mikasa used to belong to a much smaller pack that was an ally of Maria during the war. They were a travelling pack so they never had a permanent base. One day their camp was attacked as they were trying to move; nobody's sure who the attackers were but we suspect it was a band of mercenaries trying to take prisoners to sell to the Survey Corps. However, their plan didn't work; they didn't expect the pack to fight back and they ended up killing them all. Only Mikasa escaped and she somehow found the Maria camp. My mother was chosen to look after her and I can remember first meeting her- I gave her my red scarf because I thought she looked cold and I told her that those bad men who hurt her couldn't reach her now because I would protect her. We were both only eight but we really took that promise seriously and for ages afterwards, she didn't leave my side. For a really long time, she only spoke to me, Armin and our mother. She had only just begun to open up to the other members of our pack when we lost our mother too."

His hand suddenly stiffened in the sand, his fingertips pressing down hard into the grit. Levi could see the young man was clenching his teeth hard, fighting back the surge of emotions that were threatening to spill, and he waited to see if Eren would say anymore. It took a long moment but when Eren moved, it was to wipe his arm across his eyes and brush away the sand that had gathered on his fingers and under his nails.

"Sorry, I don't think I can talk about this now." He said. "It's been a long time and you're really easy to talk to but I don't think I'm ready yet. I'm sorry Levi."

"Don't be sorry." Levi replied in a much softer tone than he had intended to. "it's your story; you shouldn't have to tell it before you are ready." There was a pause before he found himself speaking again.

"Maybe one day I'll be ready to tell you my story. Then maybe you'll understand why you should stay away from me."

He heard Eren sniff beside him and for one moment, he thought he was going to get up and leave. He wouldn't have blamed the kid but something inside him, something deep and primal, was begging for him not to go. However, instead of hearing the sound of him straightening his legs and walking away, he felt Eren sit up a little more and shuffle closer to him. Now there was barely an inch between them and they both knew if they moved their hands just the smallest bit, they would be touching.

"That… that would be nice." Eren said softly. "But it would have to be pretty bad to make me leave."

Levi snorted but he didn't argue; Eren had sounded so certain, he almost believed him. He wanted to believe him, he realised but he was quick to push that thought away. Instead he just focused on staring straight ahead, looking at the horizon with Eren by his side as the sun slowly began to rise.


	5. Chapter 5

Neither of them were sure when their visits to the lake became regular but after a few weeks the two of them had settled into a strangely comfortable routine, one they had reached somehow without acknowledging it. They came every third night, just so Eren didn't arouse suspicion from his friends for disappearing too often and Erwin couldn't get too angry at Levi for constantly leaving the camp. It didn't become a problem as Levi found that outside these meetings he didn't visit the lake as much as he used to; it now seemed odd without Eren, like the young man had always been a part of it, familiar as one of the trees that made up the scenery. Of course, that was something he was never planning on admitting; Eren was confident and stubborn enough without that knowledge inflating his ego. Still, it was nice to know that when he did visit the lake, there would be someone there for him, someone who he could rant to if needed or just sit quietly with if he wanted some peace. He had never thought about having a confidante before, he had always considered his heavy burdens his and his alone but somehow that was what Eren had become. And, even more strangely, he found it quite comforting.

Of course, he hadn't made it easy for Eren. The third time Eren had arrived at the lake there had been a sign lodged in the sand with 'No Brats Allowed' scrawled across it. The fourth time, there were several distinct lines in the sand that divided the beach into where the two could sit, with Eren's side being substantially smaller. Levi persisted in the nickname brat, no matter how it irritated him and he had snapped at Eren fiercely on more than one occasion when the younger man had done nothing to provoke it. It was almost like he was subconsciously trying to drive him away, he thought, trying to make him leave before he discovered the truth about him and this rosy façade they had built would crumble into dust.

Still, no matter what he did, Eren wouldn't leave. When he had seen that sign on the beach, he had just laughed before pushing it away and going to sit in what was now his regular spot next to the rocks. He had done the same with the lines, simply scuffing them out with his foot and then flopping down next to Levi with a smirk, daring the older man to shove him away. He resigned himself to the nickname of brat, managing to retaliate by calling Levi old man at every opportunity, and when Levi got snappy with him and then sat in a sullen silence afterwards, Eren would stay until he spoke again, even if he only responded to him after he apologised.

Levi found himself apologising to him more than he had to everyone else back at his camp combined and somehow the sight of hurt flashing across Eren's beautiful green eyes was worse to him than nearly anything he could imagine. He didn't know how long Eren would keep coming for- he was older and far more bitter and sarcastic than his friends back at Maria must be. In the times when he was the first to reach the lake, he sometimes wondered what would be worse; seeing Eren's emerald eyes burn with anger as he discovered the truth of what he was or the despair of one day arriving at the lake and waiting all night for Eren to appear only for him to never return. He couldn't think of an answer so he was determined to enjoy their time whilst it lasted, keeping every smile stored in his memory in preparation for the day when he would never see it again.

For Eren, their secret meetings by the lake meant just as much though for several different reasons. One was the lake itself; it was still as mesmerising to him as it had been on his first accidental trip there and he didn't think he could ever tire of staring at its mirror-like surface that reflected the heavens above. The forest around it framed it beautifully, like it knew it was its most precious jewel and it wanted to set it with the reverence it deserved. Another was the freedom he could rejoice in on the nights he ran in his wolf form under the full moon, his body moving like it was weightless and could be lifted away by the wind. These small tastes were enough to lift his spirits, even during the days when he was stuck in camp and everyone around him had noticed the difference. He no longer got into fights with Jean and the taller boy had quickly grown bored of taunting him now he only reacted to his insults with a grin. He was a lot more cooperative on scouting missions, no longer wanting to linger in the forest until the last possible second and sometimes he was even the first one to suggest they should head back to camp. He knew Armin was slightly suspicious- he sometimes felt the blond's eyes on his back calmly watching him and he knew his friend suspected something was up but he was careful to give nothing away. Mikasa, however, was relieved- he often caught her watching him with a smile, seemingly overjoyed with his new attitude. He didn't speak about the outside anymore, even when it was brought up by other people around them at dinner, and Mikasa was always quick to congratulate him for it.

"I'm so proud of you Eren." She said one time as they left the canteen, her grey eyes shining like stars as she wrapped him in a hug. "I know it must be hard but I'm so glad you're seeing sense about the outside world. I wouldn't want you to ever get hurt."

That had made him feel guilty but he still hadn't stopped. He hadn't even considered it. Now he had been out there without the constraints of rules and his pack, he didn't think he could ever stop. The feeling of being out there was like a drug and he was far too addicted to the rush it gave him to want to go back to the way he had lived before.

However, his main reason for going was to see Levi. The man intrigued him, not just because he was so difficult and because he was a member of the Survey Corps- he was just simply unlike anybody he had ever met before. He didn't seem like everyone else back at Maria, the people who were happy to stay quiet and let people like Nile rule their lives; in fact, he doubted Levi had ever been quiet in his life. He was also the fact that he still knew so little about him. He guessed that he was pretty high up in the Survey Corps rankings given that he spoke about his leader Erwin like he was an old friend and his other close friend was the camp doctor who always enjoyed a high status due to their knowledge. He had learned a great deal about both of these people he had never met. He knew Hanji was fascinated with everything about the outside world and was open to trying anything in an experiment, so much so that some members of their pack ran screaming when they heard she was looking for new volunteers. Levi himself had only guaranteed his own safety from her experiments by promising her he would look for new and unusual plants when he was outside the walls. He also knew Erwin's nickname was Eyebrows due to the fact he had a pair like two giant golden caterpillars and that he was the only one strong enough to drag Levi away from a fight. He had done so frequently by chucking the small man over his shoulder and walking away, much to Levi's outrage but there had been nothing he could do about it.

"The man's built like a fucking mountain." He had explained gruffly once Eren had finally finished laughing at the story. "He's just as tall and his shoulders are just as broad as one. I reckon in a fair fight I could still beat him because I'm faster and better with blades but on strength alone… he would crush me for sure."

"Wouldn't that be a tragedy." Eren had grinned but both of them had known there was no malice in what he said. In return, Eren had told Levi all about his friends back at Maria, going into the same great detail as Levi had.

"Mikasa is our camp's best fighter," He had boasted, proud of his sister's accomplishments. "Nobody ever dares to fight her and the one time this cocky arsewipe did, he had to stay in the nurse's hut for a week. I think he still has some of the bruises. Most of the guys are scared of her now- the only one who isn't is Jean and he's a total idiot. He's constantly bragging about being the best at everything when he clearly isn't and he makes out he's this lady's man when he looks like a horse. Seriously, there's no difference between his human form and his animal form. I don't know how Marco stands it, he's his best friend and he must have the patience of a saint because he hangs around him all the time- we all worry about Jean corrupting his precious soul one day. And then there's Sasha who never stops eating and Connie who's her best friend and is always running after her…"

Levi patiently listened as he ranted on, nodding whenever Eren asked him a question and occasionally making a comment of his own that would get Eren fired up again and cause him to go off on a tangent about something else. They spent many nights like that, with one of them talking for a little while about everything and nothing and the other just listening. It was strange to have that bond with someone who belonged to their enemy pack but Eren soon found that he no longer cared about that.

The one thing he did notice was that even when Levi did talk he never gave away much about himself or his past. Whenever they skirted near the subject he would just shut down, going silent until Eren grew tired of it and brought up something else. He could remember the day when Levi had told him that one day he would tell him his story and that it would make him understand why he shouldn't want to be near him. He wanted to hear it, sensing that knowing his story would help him to understand Levi and work out why he acted this way, but the other side of him was cautious, almost scared of discovering what dark secret Levi held. It was obviously one that troubled him; Eren could see it in the way his grey eyes would go dark and stormy when the past was mentioned and that made Eren want to shudder. He wasn't sure what Levi was hiding but he was sure of one thing- it wouldn't make him stop coming to the lake. He was certain of that- Levi had become far too close of a friend for him to abandon him like that for one mistake that may have happened in his past. He cared too much for that to get in the way.

OOO

His feelings about the issue were only reinforced one night at the lake when he realised the true extent of his feelings towards the dark-haired man. It had been a couple of months since that first fateful meeting at the lake and it was the night before Eren's 18th birthday. He was struck by how quickly it had come about; a few months ago, it was all he could think about but since meeting Levi, it had practically slipped his mind. The knowledge that he would soon be of age and able to choose his forever mate both excited and terrified him. It felt like such a huge responsibility since once you and your mate had agreed, your bond was permanent. There was no way you could go back so you had to choose wisely and Eren could sense that, because of his famously impulsive and headstrong manner, his friends were a little worried about him doing the exact opposite of that.

That was why he found it such a relief to visit the lake and sit with Levi. The man expected nothing from him and the peace that surrounded the two of them, even when they were bickering and making jabs at each other, was exactly what he needed. It was one of the nights when he arrived first and he sat there with his knees tucked under his chin, staring quietly at the rippleless water as he waited for Levi to appear from the dark trees. Sometimes he could be so quiet that Eren wouldn't hear him until he spoke right behind him and he would jump and shriek so loudly that the birds in the nearby trees would fly away, shaken by the noise. Levi always chuckled at that, the sound verging on the edge of a full laugh and although Eren would sulk afterwards for a few minutes, he could never find it in him to be truly angry. He never could when he came close to hearing Levi's proper laugh and those times were some of the closest he had got to hearing it. It was a sound he really wanted to hear.

That night, however, Levi didn't get the chance to sneak up on him. Eren kept his eyes focused on the forest behind him, thinking that with each second Levi got closer and closer. When Levi did emerge from the trees, Eren was looking straight at him and his face split into a wide grin. He opened his mouth to call out to him, his arm automatically raising to wave him over, but he suddenly found himself freezing in place as Levi's eyes locked with his. His arm suddenly went limp like his nerves had just been cut and his tongue felt like lead in his mouth, unable to form words as he could only gawp at the stunning sight before him.

Levi's form was drenched in moonlight as he walked towards him, the silver light caressing his white skin and making him look like he had been carved from marble, a classical statue brought to life to walk among mortals. The light sparked off the blades at his waist, the shimmer along the sharp metal getting sliced as he moved purposely towards Eren. He had his usual scowl on his face but when he had glimpsed the figure curled up by the water, it had almost appeared to soften and Eren felt his chest thud at the sight of it. His grey eyes also had been blessed by the moon; the soft moonlight had taken away the cutting edge in their stare and replaced it with a glow that made them shine brighter than the purest silver. Eren could have spent hours staring just at his eyes, admiring every metallic fleck of colour in them, but instead he turned his head sharply to stare back at the lake, his heart pounding as he forced himself to stare at the calm water. It felt like his insides were performing acrobatics at the sight of Levi and he wasn't sure why. True, he had looked majestic under the moonlight, the moon bestowing her favours upon him like a queen with a favoured courtier, but that surely shouldn't be making him feel like this.

His thoughts were brought to a standstill as Levi heavily sat down, keeping only a few inches of distance between them. It had become normal for the pair of them to sit close together but the distance had never felt so paltry before- it felt so small, Eren wondered if Levi could sense how hot his body felt and how fast his heart was beating in his ribcage. However, he didn't seem to notice as he greeted Eren with his usual grunt.

"Brat."

"Old man." Eren quickly fired back out of instinct, his mind too fuddled to come up with anything more intelligent to say. There was a long moment of silence as they watched the water, each waiting for the other to say something, and Eren felt every stretched second like it was a twist to his gut. It was a long while before Levi eventually spoke, breaking the awkwardness with a few blunt words.

"You're quiet tonight." He commented, his words holding a hint of a question. "Normally you can't wait to start ranting at me."

His head hadn't moved but Eren could sense that he was staring at him and the knowledge sent a shiver through him. "It's my 18th birthday tomorrow."

"Oh." Levi answered, not sure how to answer something like that. "Happy birthday I guess. You'll finally be of age."

"I know." Eren said, curling even further into himself so only his eyes could peer out over his knees. "That's why I'm worrying."

There was another pause as Levi turned his head to stare directly at him. "Why? I thought that's what all you pups wanted- to be of age so you can strut around your camp like you're the shit."

Eren gave him a glare. "Maybe idiots like Jean want to do that," he said, thinking of the day in a couple of weeks when it would be the horse's birthday with a shudder. "But I don't. Nobody's going to take me any more seriously just because I've turned 18 and then there's the whole… other thing."

His cheeks went pink as he rushed to finish his sentence and he suddenly felt like he was eight years old again, squirming with embarrassment as he asked his mother where babies came from. Levi's face looked blank for a second before realisation hit him and his eyebrows went up a little.

"You mean the whole pick a mate thing, right?"

Eren nodded and, to his surprise, Levi sagely nodded along. "You know, I don't really blame you for that. Some young people go crazy when they come of age and realise they can finally do what the grownups have been talking about for years. They want to find their mate quickly so they start asking anything that has a pulse and that just leads to unhappy bonds. I've seen mates practically tear each other apart because they bonded young and then realised they couldn't stand the sight of each other. It's good to know you're cautious, that means you won't get swayed and end up doing something utterly stupid."

"But what if I want to ask somebody?"

"Then you ask them. Simple as that."

"It doesn't feel like it should be that simple."

Levi arched an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"I don't know." Eren admitted. He wanted to try and explain how he felt about it but every time, the words would slip away like water trickling through his cupped hands and he wrung his hands in frustration. "It's just… finding a mate is this big monumental thing and it doesn't feel like just asking a question should be that important. And how will I know if they are the right person for me? It's all too easy to make a mistake and I've never been in love before… how will I know? Everyone always tells me I'm impulsive and I rush into things and I really don't want to do that here. I really don't want to fuck this up Levi."

"And you won't." Eren's head shot up at the words, spoken so softly that he wasn't actually sure he had heard them. "I know you won't."

"How?"

"Because of what you just said. If you were going to act like another silly pup thinking with their dicks instead of their brains, you wouldn't be worried about making a mistake and you certainly wouldn't have spilled it all. You're a better person than you give yourself credit for sometimes and I think you forget that brat."

Eren gave a short laugh. "You just had to spoil it, didn't you?" He said. "But… thanks. I guess I needed to hear that."

Levi shrugged. "You're welcome."

There was another long silence as Eren fought to contain his blush. He had never imagined something so complimentary could come from Levi's mouth and the fact that it was for him made him suddenly feel like he could conquer the world single-handedly. However, there was now a question he wanted to ask Levi, something that was niggling at the back of his head and he couldn't help his curiosity.

"Hey Levi… have you ever asked anybody to be your mate?"

Levi's body went rigid and for a second, Eren was terrified. Oh god, I've really overstepped the mark here, he's going to hate me so much… he thought in a panic but before he could make a move to run, Levi had already answered him.

"No."

"Oh." Eren said, his body almost collapsing to the sand with relief that he wasn't going to die that night. However, his curiosity still wouldn't quit. "Why?"

Levi shrugged. "Never wanted to. I'm a soldier, my job is risky and I didn't want to put anyone through the pain of losing their mate young. Plus, nobody ever piqued my interest."

"OK." Eren nodded, pausing briefly before his next question. "Did anyone ever ask you?"

"I was asked a couple of times," Levi admitted. "Didn't say yes though. That was a really long time ago- most of my pack has since learned that I'm not the settling down type. For a while there was a rumour that I'd secretly bonded with Hanji." He shuddered at the thought and Eren giggled at the look of disgust on his face. "When she found out, she thought it was hilarious. She played along with it for a while, trying to give me weird nicknames and other shit to annoy me. She only stopped when she tried to kiss me one time and I nearly threw her over the wall. Erwin had to order her to stop after that."

"Wow." Eren giggled again at the image of Levi angrily trying to throw someone over a wall for trying to kiss him. He was so caught up in the image, he missed the fond look Levi shot him. "She must have been put out at that."

"Yeah, she was," Levi said with a light chuckle of his own. "She accused Erwin of ruining all her fun."

There was another short silence as Levi went back to watching the water and Eren began to play with the sand under his fingers, swirling it around into strange shapes and letting his fingertips glide over the grainy surface. As he smoothed it over to make it into a blank canvas again, he suddenly recalled something Levi had mentioned and he looked over at him again.

"Hey Levi, you said you're a soldier, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Have you ever fought in any big battles?"

Levi once again froze, his fingers clawing into the sand like its slippery surface could hold him steady. Eren leaned over to try and read the look on his face but it was unreadable, his features steeled into an expression that gave nothing away. However, the air around him had changed and Eren could feel his blood run cold as he sensed it. There was a sense of fear that surrounded Levi, a sense that he was scared, and that terrified Eren. He had never seen Levi look even remotely fearful and to see him now like this was unnerving to say the least.

"Levi?" He asked nervously. "Are you OK?"

"I'm…" Levi managed to choke out before he gave a long sigh. His body appeared to relax as he breathed out, his fingers unclenching from the sand but his face still held the same expression. "I'm fine Eren. But I don't think I can talk about that. I've been in some fights but nothing too big. Those were enough."

He looked like he wanted to say more but he didn't and Eren nodded, respecting his wishes. He couldn't imagine what his friend had gone through and he didn't want to bring back a lot of pain he clearly wanted to forget. "OK Levi," He said reassuringly. "I promise I won't talk about it anymore. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"It's OK brat." Levi told him, sounding a bit more like his usual self. "You didn't know."

Eren wasn't sure whether it was the slightly more vulnerable look that Levi had in his eyes that made him do it or whether it was the small forgiving smile that he gave him. All he knew was one minute, he had been sitting next to Levi with the pair looking straight at each other and the next, he had his arms around his small but incredibly firm body and their chests were pressed against each other. It felt like his brain was short-circuiting as he registered that he was hugging Levi like it was the last time he would ever see him and his mind was overflowing as he tried to capture every last detail. Even though Levi felt slight in his arms, like a wisp of wind could carry him away, Eren could feel the lines and ridges of the muscles in his back and arms and he could have whimpered at how they felt as strong as iron. Levi was also so unbelievably warm and he smelt so good, like pine needles and worn leather and something else that was so unmistakably him, Eren couldn't imagine anyone else having that comforting scent. He could feel his whole face heating up at how lovely and warm he was and he had a sudden urge to bury his face in Levi's shoulder and breathe it all in. He didn't however- just the feeling of being so close to Levi was enough to paralyse him and he wasn't sure he could move even if he wanted to. Levi appeared to be just as shocked as he too was still as he sat circled in Eren's arms. Eren began to panic again- what if this was what ruined everything? Would Levi hate him for touching him without permission? Those thoughts kept swimming rapidly through his head over and over again until suddenly, they were stilled by a pair of arms slowly wrapping themselves around his back. He felt Levi lean into him a little and the small action sent sparks flying through his body.

He was hugging Levi, he thought, his heart feeling like it was going to burst from his chest. And he's hugging me back! He really is!

The two stayed like that for a long moment, one that felt like forever but at the same time was way too short for Eren. It was Levi who pulled away first, his hands surprisingly gentle as he moved Eren's arms away like they were made of glass and he was scared to break them.

"You should go." He said, his voice a little lower than usual and he couldn't quite meet Eren in the eye. "The sun will be up soon. You need to get back."

"Right. Yes." Eren could already see the sky above them was beginning to lighten, the inky blackness fading to a much softer blue but he was still reluctant to stand up and untangle himself from Levi. "Can… can we meet here tomorrow? For my birthday. I want to see you, it can be your present to me."

"Who said I was going to get you anything?" Levi said gruffly but his tone was almost pleased. "Fine, I'll meet you here tomorrow. Don't keep me waiting."

Eren laughed. "You know I won't," he said as he stood up, his fingers trailing the length of Levi's arm so he could prolong the moment of letting go. "See you then."

Before he could change his mind, he shifted into his wolf form and sprinted away into the forest, feeling the weight of Levi's eyes on his back as he vanished into the undergrowth. The sky was get lighter at an increasingly fast rate but Eren felt like he was running on clouds as he ran back to camp faster than he ever had before. It felt like his heart was beating at a million beats per second and every time he thought back to the hug he had shared with Levi, it only felt like it was getting faster. As his birthday dawned and he sped through the forest, it was then when he came to a startled realisation, once that almost made him stop dead in his tracks before a warm smile worked its way onto his lips.

Shit, he thought as he saw his camp up ahead. I think I might have a crush on him.

OOO

For the past few years, Eren, Mikasa and Armin had all celebrated their birthdays in the same way. Throughout the day, they would carry out their regular duties but they would try to get them done as quickly as possible so they could spend more time celebrating. At dinner, their friends would always gather round and loudly sing happy birthday so the whole canteen could hear, rocking from side to side with their arms around each other so they resembled a drunken rabble. Armin always got embarrassed by it, his face going bright crimson as he hid it behind his jacket and tried to make himself as small as possible and Mikasa just sat there with the stoic face she usually had, seemingly unaffected by the terrible singing though her mouth would twitch the whole way through like she was trying to fight off a smile. Eren always liked to get into it, singing along even when it was his own birthday. The group would then hang out at dinner, with even Jean being civil towards him, but once it had finished, they would leave the three to be alone. It was part of their birthday traditions that in the evening when a hush had fallen over the camp, the three of them would find a spot along the wall where they wouldn't be disturbed and just talk. They would reminisce about the past, bring up happy memories that they had half-forgotten and laughing at their past antics. It was nice to think back to a simpler time, when the world hadn't existed beyond the boundaries of the walls around them and the only jobs they had were chores from their parents but it could also be bittersweet too. That was why the three of them preferred to be alone when they talked about it- it was the one time they felt like they could grieve together for the people they had lost as well as the people they had once been.

That evening, they had found a secluded spot under one of the large trees near the camp wall. There weren't any guard posts nearby and the chatter from the centre of camp was just distant background noise. Mikasa was leaning against the tree trunk whilst both Armin and Eren were sprawled out on the grass, absent-mindedly picking at the green strands as they talked.

"Do you remember the time we decided to play at being forest people?" Armin said, smiling as the memory swam before his eyes. "We covered ourselves in mud and leaves and pretended we had our own language."

"Oh yeah, I remember that," Eren said with a laugh. "I got mud all in my ears. There was so much I thought I was going to go deaf!"

"And our made-up language was just a bunch of grunts," Mikasa supplied with a wry smile. "The neighbours complained because we were making such a racket. Mum was furious."

"She sure was," Eren replied, twisting a piece of grass between his fingers until it snapped. "She made us all get in a bath and scrubbed us until our skin was red and raw. We didn't hear the end of it for a week!"

"It was your fault Eren," Armin laughed as his friend whipped his head round to glare at him. "You were the one who started it."

"You were the ones who went along with me!" Eren retorted.

"Only because you refused to play anything else." Mikasa pointed out. "You always were stubborn Eren. Mum used to say that all the time."

"Yeah she did." Eren said wistfully and the three of them went quiet as they all retreated into their memories. "She was the best though."

"She was." Armin agreed softly with a nod. He hadn't known his parents as they had died when he was barely a year old. He had been raised mainly by his grandfather, who had died only a couple of years ago, but he had spent so much time at Eren and Mikasa's that he had seen Carla as a mother figure.

The three were quiet until Eren softly spoke up. "What… what do you think she would have thought of us all being 18?" He asked. "It still seems weird to me- Mikasa's been 18 for over a month now, I'm 18 today and in November, we'll all be of age. Doesn't that seem crazy?"

"I know what you mean." Armin said. "I don't think I've got my head around that yet. I bet she would have been proud though- she would be pinching your cheeks and wondering how you got so big."

"Yeah, she would have got the whole camp round ours to celebrate." Eren grinned. He could imagine his mother being more excited than even him about his coming of age- she always did like to celebrate birthdays. "I really miss her."

"We all do Eren." Mikasa said as she reached over and took his hand, squeezing it gently. "But I know that if she could see us now, she would be proud. She would be glad the war is over too- she always said the only reason she fought was so that we would never have to fight. And now we don't. We never have to deal with those Survey Corps again." Her voice took on a bitter angry edge as she spat out the name of their rival pack and Eren gave her a look of alarm. For a second, she had made him think of Levi and he felt a knot of guilt twist in his chest. Thank god they don't know about him, he thought.

"Yeah, I'm glad of that," he said before an idea came to his head. "Hey guys, from the war… do you remember any names from the Survey Corps?"

"What do you mean?" Mikasa narrowed her eyes down at him and he could feel Armin's confused eyes were on him as well. Eren gave a gulp and shrugged his shoulders causally.

"You know, the names of anybody who fought against us. Commanders, generals, soldiers, just anyone. I'm curious, that's all."

"Eren, you know we're not supposed to talk about this." Armin warned him. "Any talk about the war or the Survey Corps in general is highly disapproved of. That's why we were always trying to get you to shut up about them, remember?"

"I know, I know," Eren said, holding both his hands up. "It's just that I heard some people in camp talking about them and they mentioned this name."

"What name?" Mikasa said. "And who said it?"

"I don't remember," Eren said, the lie easily rolling from his tongue. "I just remember the name they said. I think it was… Levi? Or something like that?"

Armin looked blank at the name but the reaction it got from Mikasa was instantaneous. She gritted her teeth and growled, the noise so low and primal it sounded like it should have come from her panther form. Her eyes glinted with what looked like pure rage and she suddenly snapped, making both of the boys jump in shock.

"Don't mention that name!" She growled. "Don't ever soil your tongue with it again!"

"Why?" Eren snapped back, ignoring Armin's eyes pleading him to stay quiet. "Why do you know that name?"

"Because he's the worst of the lot!" Mikasa shot back furiously. "He was the one who led their army! He was the one who planned and led all of their assaults! He was known as their Strongest because he was said to be as dangerous as a whole legion of fighters! That's why nobody brings up his name here! He's responsible for so many deaths!"

"That… can't be right…" Eren blurted out, ignoring the weird look Armin was giving him. H=It felt like his heart was breaking and the shards were tearing him apart from the inside. His body felt like it had gone cold and he was glad he was lying down or else his legs might had crumpled. "You must be talking about someone else…"

"I'm not Eren," Mikasa said, her voice icy cold and stinging with truth. "And the worst part was he was there."

"Where? He was where?" Eren asked desperately, even though he already knew exactly what she was going to say.

"He was at the Last Stand, the final battle of the war," Mikasa told him darkly. "He was the one who led the charge. He was at the battle where Mum died."


	6. Chapter 6

The sun was still in the sky when Levi arrived at the lake, the burning orange of the sunset still blazing like fire against the pale grey clouds that were rolling in. There was no sign of the night approaching, no dark colours waiting on the horizon, no stirrings from the forest as it came alive with the life that enjoyed the darkness, no cool breeze that whispered of night and pecked at the water's surface but still he was here, waiting for someone he knew wasn't going to arrive for a good few hours yet. He gave a loud groan.

"This is what you get for being sappy." He told himself, speaking out loud despite being the only person there. He could almost have laughed at himself; he was the one who had told the brat not to keep him waiting and yet here he was, making himself wait by turning up early. "You stupid fucking fool."

He stepped over to his usual spot, kicking absent-mindedly at a rock as he did so, before he flopped down on the sand and stared off in the direction of the Maria camp. He didn't know how long Eren would be- he would probably be celebrating his birthday with his brat friends he had heard so much about and Lord knows how long that would last. If they're anything like the brats back home, Levi thought, Eren could be hours. He imagined him laughing, smiling widely as his friends surrounded him, and it made his face twitch into a frown.

Oh no you don't, he quickly told himself. You don't get to act jealous. Those are his friends, that's his pack, you can't expect him to drop everything and rush to see you. But at the same time, he couldn't help it. Those people got to see Eren every day, they didn't have to sneak away just to see his smile, they didn't have to hide all knowledge of him just so they could talk to him and make him laugh. Just the thought of being able to do that, to be recognised as someone he cared for, was enough to make something twinge in his chest.

He toyed with his blades, making the light dance on and off their silvery surface as he tried to distance his thoughts from anything Eren-related. However, that proved impossible thanks to his surroundings- he had come to associate Eren with their secret meeting place so much that now he couldn't separate the two in his head. The greenery swaying gently around the lake almost seemed to be mocking him with how their shade of emerald came so close to the colour of Eren's eyes and yet at the same time, it seemed like only a pale imitation. Levi closed his own eyes with a groan as he tipped his head back against the cool rock. Eren's presence had now become synonymous with the feelings of calm and tranquillity he usually felt when he was by the lake, even when the boy was driving him up the wall, and without him there, the place didn't have the same powers to soothe him. When Eren was there, he felt better, his constant talking and occasional bickering enough to distract his mind from his troubles.

If only it was the same back at camp.

He gritted his teeth as his mind strayed back to the events of the past day. Erwin had once again denied any trips outside the camp except for the scouts; even Hanji hadn't been allowed out to go and hunt for herbs, despite the fact she was running low on several of her most used remedies. The camp was slowly growing more and more on edge as there hadn't been a fresh kill of meat in weeks; more and more of the camp were now solely living off what they could grow in the gardens and the last of their dried meat was slowly disappearing. The whole camp was beginning to feel like a ticking time bomb and nobody knew what was going to finally set it off.

There had been another altercation in Erwin's office but this one had gotten even uglier than the last. Levi had once again stormed in, the guards no longer trying to stop him, and he had spent the next half an hour just yelling as he paced around the office, berating Erwin for leaving him and the whole camp in the dark. Erwin had irritatingly stayed silent, seething behind his desk as he gave the same answers as before, just in an even darker tone when he said he was doing this for everyone's good. Hanji had tried to act as peacemaker between them but her own frustration at the situation was evident; everyone was just tired and confused at what was going on but there were still no answers. Erwin had told them all to be patient and that the answers would come in time but Levi was sick to death of being patient. He hadn't fought in a war all those years and then helped Erwin to maintain peace and rebuild the camp just to be shunted to the side like this.

He gave a cross sigh. The Survey Corps were stuck in a total mess and he had no idea what to do about it. Usually he could just go to Erwin but that option was ruled out as he was the source of the problem. For one of the first times in his life, he was clueless about what to do next; he had never felt so completely powerless before. He looked back over the lake to where the sun was laboriously beginning to set and his body slumped.

Eren better get here soon, he thought. I don't want to be stuck in my head a minute longer.

Just then, there was a rustle from the trees ahead of him and Levi jerked his head up in its direction. He watched as the trees parted, moving like the waves of the Red Sea as a brown wolf headed his way. The creature was panting, like it had just been running a long distance without stopping and there were some leaves tangled in its fur but Levi was only looking at its distinctly human-shaped eyes. He stood up, abandoning his blades on the sand as he recognised the bright green and when the wolf looked up and locked eyes with him, he gave a small smile.

"Took you long enough brat. What did I say about keeping me wait-"

He stopped suddenly in the middle of his sentence as the wolf gave a low menacing growl, his teeth bared and his eyes gleaming dangerously. He started to move towards him, shoulders low and muscles rolling underneath his fur as he approached him like he was going to tear him apart.

"Eren, what the hell-" Levi started to say before suddenly Eren shifted into human form and leapt at him. Two hands grabbed the front of Levi's jacket and hoisted him up, pinning him against the rocks at his back as his feet scrabbled for purchase on the ground, only to find his toes could barely brush it. His blades were still lying on the sand, way out of his reach and the only image in his vision was of Eren's face, staring him down angrily as he held his face so close to his, even the sky was blotted out. He looked like a vengeful angel as he glared down at Levi, his hair messily flared out like a cinnamon halo and his eyes burning with such wrath, Levi couldn't help but be a little scared. He could hear Eren's loud angry breaths as they sent shudders through both his and Eren's body, the air hot on his skin like Eren was trying to warm him with his sheer anger alone.

"You lied."

The words were harshly spoken like the crack of a whip and Levi suddenly stopped scrabbling, letting his limps fall limp like a puppet whose string had just been cut.

"What?"

"You lied." Eren repeated, his voice steadily building as he spoke. "You said you never fought in any major battles. What were the words you used? Some fights but nothing too big? Was leading the charge at the Last Stand not big enough for you?!"

Levi's blood ran cold as Eren mentioned the name of the battle. How had he found that out? "Eren please, you have to listen to me-"

"No, I don't!" Levi grunted as Eren pushed him back into the rocks, making his body shake like he was nothing more than a rag doll. "I'm done with listening to you! All you've been telling me is lies! You said you were just a soldier but you're not, you're the leader of their army! You said you never fought in a major battle but you were at the biggest one of the war! You were at the battle where she died! _You commanded the soldiers that killed my mother!_ "

Levi could only stare back wide-eyed as Eren bent his head, his breathing coming out in choking sounds as he struggled to keep control and stop everything from bubbling up to the surface. When he did finally look back up at him, there were tears pouring down his cheeks, spilling from the eyes that were staring at him with such venom. However, there was no longer just pure anger staring back at him; there was an anguish so raw, Levi could feel it hurting him too.

"You took her away. She was the only good thing I had and you took her away from me."

Eren was openly weeping now, the tears falling from his eyes and dropping to the ground like they would never stop. His shoulders and arms were trembling with his weeping and the effort of holding Levi up; the man was small but he certainly wasn't light and Eren eventually had to lower him to the ground. His anger was still there but it now felt like nothing more than a simmer as he was struck down with his feelings of grief that had sunk their claws into him. He still kept his hands fisted in the front of Levi's jacket, holding onto him like the world would disappear if he let go. He kept his eyes closed, expecting any minute for Levi to push him away and leave; why would he stay after all that had come out and Eren had attacked him? However, instead of feeling a blow, Eren felt an arm snake around his back, pulling him gently closer as his forehead came to rest on Levi's own. He opened his eyes the tiniest slit and saw Levi had his own eyes scrunched shut, like he was trying to ward off his own pain. Eren couldn't help but lean into him, the press of their foreheads comforting as the pair of them stood there in silence.

"Tell me about her," Levi eventually said, his croaking voice barely above a whisper. "If you feel like you can now, if you're ready… tell me about her. Tell me so maybe I can start to make amends."

He heard Eren gasp at that, a choking sob that jerked his entire body but still he didn't move away from Levi's touch. He could feel how Eren was shaking, his mouth open as he tried to speak but he was too racked with sobbing to start. Levi raised his other arm and wrapped it around him, running his hand slowly up and down his back. He wasn't good at comforting people; during the war, he had tried to keep away from the injured and weeping for fear of hurting them more. All he could do was tell them that their sacrifice had been worth it and he would go on fighting for them but that wasn't going to be any use here. All he had was his ability to hold him and the hope that it would be enough.

It took a few long minutes of Eren silently crying and Levi gently rubbing his back before Eren could finally speak. His voice was still choppy as he fought back more tears but it was clear and determined, like his only purpose was to get through it.

"My mother's name was Carla. She had long brown hair and brown eyes and she had the kindest smile in the world. She used to pull on my ears when I misbehaved and she could always tell when I was lying, nothing ever got past her. Her animal form was a wolf too- everyone at camp used to say I looked so much like her, especially when I first shifted and we found out I was the same animal as her. She was really happy on the day I first shifted, I can remember her crying a little as she hugged me and called me her little wolf cub. I was really happy too because I wanted to be just like her.

My dad left us when I was really small- he was our camp's doctor and he went off to serve in the war. He never came back though- he just disappeared from camp during one night raid and no one ever saw him again. They called him a deserter and Mum was sad for a while but I didn't care, he was never here anyway and I didn't need him because I had her. We lived outside of the main Maria camp in a smaller one filled with families- that's where I met Armin and his grandfather. We were really happy there.

Then one day when I was eight, a little girl covered in blood suddenly ran into our camp. She was tired and hungry and her eyes looked dead but everyone started saying she was from the Survey Corps and wanted to send her away, even though it was clear she was traumatised. I remember I found her in the middle of camp and I tried to fight off everyone who tried to go near her but it was my mother who put a stop to the others throwing her out. She picked her up, brought her home and as she cleaned her up and fed her, she told me she would be living with us from now on. It took her a while but eventually she told us her name was Mikasa and she became my adopted sister. If it weren't for my mother, she would have been chucked out into the forest and she probably wouldn't have survived.

We were a proper family, me and her and Mikasa but then everything changed. When I was ten, we got a message from the Commander of the Maria pack- there was going to be a big offensive on the Survey Corps, one that they were hoping would end the war. They called for everyone who was of age to go and fight and that included my mother." His voice shook again as he tried to wrestle it under control, more tears forming in the corners of his eyes like crystals. "I begged her not to go, I cried and cried but she told me she had no choice. She said she was going to fight so we didn't have to, she wanted to end the war so we wouldn't have to be called away from our own families when we were of age. I remember her making us promise that we would stay together and stay alive no matter what happened. When she tried to leave, I clung to her because I didn't want her to go, a family friend of ours Hannes eventually had to drag me away. I remember her waving to us as she walked away with the others… that was the last time I saw her."

He squeezed his eyes shut and Levi felt the grip on his jacket tighten as Eren still struggled to keep his voice steady. He could understand; the Last Stand had been the biggest and bloodiest battle of the war between their two packs. Each side had believed that this attack would be the one to win them the war and so they had thrown everything they had at each other but it had ended in a painful stalemate with both sides limping away in a retreat. The casualties on each side had numbered in the thousands and there were still patches along the borders where it was said the ground was still stained red with blood. The Last Stand had been so terrible and so hellish that leaders from both sides had called for peace to end the bloodshed. Erwin had been one of those leaders and had been instrumental in organising the peace- it was why he was Commander now. Levi himself could remember the battle as a living hell; most of it was now blocked out but sometimes in his darkest nightmares he would go back there. He could still remember the screaming and the howling, the stench of blood and rotting that had lingered in the air for days afterwards, the shadows of the lone figures who had had to go out searching through the bodies afterwards to find and identify people. He scrunched his eyes closed to try and force the memories of the chaos away, focusing instead on Eren as he continued to speak.

"They didn't tell us what happened to her. We only knew she was dead because Hannes came and told us. He was made to stay behind as leader of a small force to protect the village but he was also given the job of telling everyone that their loved ones had gone. I didn't treat him very kindly- when he came and told us the news I tried to hit him and screamed at him. I called him a coward and he didn't try to correct me, he just said it should have been him instead. I last heard from him when I got into the army, he sent me a letter to say he was proud and he was sorry for what happened to my mother. It was never his fault but he always felt guilty about it. I wish I had told him it wasn't his fault but I couldn't back then. I was just too swept up in my grief and it was just easier to blame everyone, even him.

I only found out how she died when I got into the army with Armin and Mikasa. I was fifteen when I got in and went to go live in the main Maria camp. It was during one job of looking through records when I found a file describing the state of some of the worst mutilated bodies, the ones that could only just be identified." Levi could feel Eren's shaking getting worse and he held him as close as he could. There was nothing else he could do as he went on to finish his story except be something stable he could lean on.

"There was one description of a woman with long brown hair and brown eyes who they found on the borders. There weren't any pictures but it said that a man from her village called Hannes had identified her as Carla Jaeger and Hannes would never have said that if he wasn't sure. They… they only found the top half of her intact… the rest was being eaten by dogs when they found her…" Eren wept as he tried to force out the last few words, hunching over like he was trying to make himself smaller and hide from the pain. "The report said there were claw marks in the dirt all around her… that means when the dogs found her, she was alive and she was trying to crawl away… I just can't stop thinking about her alone and scared and hurt, trying to crawl away so she could get back to us… and we weren't there…"

He broke down, his sobs loud and course in his throat that felt like sandpaper from his previous tears. He let go of Levi's jacket, leaving the material crushed and rumpled from his fingers but Levi didn't even look down to see the damage; he could only look up as he drew him in closer. Eren's arms wrapped around his body like the way they had the night before but now instead of Eren comforting Levi, it was now both of them comforting each other. Levi pressed one hand to Eren's back and ran the other through his hair, the untameable strands curling around his fingers like they too didn't want to let go.

"I'm sorry." He eventually said, feeling Eren stiffen in his arms. "I'm sorry for what happened to your mother and I'm sorry for lying. I know what it's like to lose someone like that, to lose the people who made up your whole world."

"How?" Eren sniffed. "How do you know?"

"Because my own mother was killed by the Survey Corps."

Eren's head shot up, his red eyes opened wide in shock as he stared down at Levi. He could see the traces of tears dried on his skin; in the moonlight, they had taken on a strange shine that made him look like silver had been woven into his skin. "What?!" He cried. "But… they're your pack, why would they kill one of their own…"

"I wasn't always in the Survey Corps pack." Levi said quietly. "I wasn't meant to become their Strongest. It just sort of happened that way. If you had told me when I was your age that I would grow up to be one of them, I would have never believed it… but there you go." He dipped his head, staring at the thin bit of ground he could see between him and Eren so he wouldn't have to look back up at those eyes that always seemed to be staring deep into his soul and made him want to spill everything. "Life's a bitch sometimes. It won't let you do what you want."

His eyes closed again, attempting to drown out the rest of the world so he didn't have to think. He didn't want to think, thinking brought everything back too clearly, thinking hurt too much… Then, he felt fingertips brush underneath his chin as suddenly his head was brought back up. He opened his eyes to pure emerald green and he found himself unable to look away.

"Tell me?" Eren questioned gently, his fingers not leaving Levi's chin as his eyes tinged with sadness silently pleaded with him. "You told me once you would tell me your story and I told you mine- now it's your turn."

The words were spoken softly but Levi could still hear the demand in Eren's voice. It was understandable, he thought. He has just spilled his soul and after everything, it's the least I can do. He felt a little hesitant but surprisingly, he didn't feel scared about telling Eren everything about his past- it was almost a relief, like a great dark weight was about to be lifted from his chest and suddenly he just wanted it gone for good.

"I was born belonging to no pack," he said. "My mother was an outsider whose pack had abandoned her after she was discovered to be pregnant with no mate. They saw it as the greatest shame possible and so she was just chucked out with no provisions and no way of getting by. I think they had a pretty screwed sense of what was shameful but there you go." He gave a dark chuckle at that, his bitterness seeping all too easily into his voice and he felt Eren hug him a little closer.

"Anyway, for years it was just my mother and me. We lived off the land, eating whatever we could find growing and whatever we could hunt with traps. At one point, my mother somehow got us a blade and I used that to hunt. I got really good fast because I had to, otherwise we wouldn't eat. We had to travel a lot, we couldn't stay in the same place for too long or else the pack whose territory that was would find us. At best, they would have taken us prisoner for trespassing, at worst they would have killed us as suspected spies for other packs. Even when we found a place we liked, we couldn't settle and we didn't have much to move about. We could have taken stuff from so many packs and it would have made everything so much easier but my mother always refused to steal. She said it would make us no better than the outlaws who had to be outsiders because they were criminals. She still had some pride in her and I always tried to follow that- I dread to see what she would think of me now.

We lived like that for years, just moving around and trying not to get killed. There were several times when we nearly got captured but we were always lucky and got away. Then one day when I was a teenager, a couple of years before I became of age, our luck ran out. We were sleeping rough somewhere on their territory and it just so happened that a group of their scouts walked right by us. I remember being kicked awake and people shouting at us, calling us scum and all kinds of things. One of them grabbed me by the hair and tried to drag me away and I drew my blade on him so he would get the fuck away from us but I only made it worse. The next thing I knew, he was lunging for me and then I was knocked to the ground. I looked up to see my mother with a blade through her stomach." Levi paused, his breath hesitant and shaky against the shell of Eren's ear and he rubbed his hand along the older man's back to reassure him. "I remember her yelling at me to run with blood dripping from her mouth. I just turned and didn't look back. I wish I had, just so I could have seen her once more but I doubt she would have thanked me for getting caught." He gave a snort of laughter but Eren could still sense the sadness that lay beneath it.

"After that, I just ran. I ran and I ran until my feet couldn't move another step and I just collapsed. The next thing I remember if waking up and seeing two faces hovering above mine. I nearly stabbed them like I did with you because it seems like brats never learn but thankfully, they were wise enough to get back when they saw me reach for a weapon, unlike somebody I know." He heard Eren gave the tiniest chuckle possible and a little hope bloomed in his chest. "It wasn't until I had my blade pointing at them that I saw they were both my age. One was a boy with sandy hair and a face like a pinched arse and the other much smaller one was a girl with red hair who wouldn't stop staring at me. She had green eyes too- they looked at me the same way yours did when I first saw you." Levi commented sadly. Eren said nothing but Levi could feel Eren draw him in so his head was buried in his shoulder. Eren's soft scent surrounded him and he breathed it in willingly, feeling it give him more strength.

"They didn't have the symbol of any pack on them and I could see they had realised the same thing about me. I remember we just stared at each other until the girl asked me to put my weapon down. 'We won't hurt you,' she told me, 'we're friends.' After a moment, when I realised she meant it, I dropped my blade and we started talking. I learned that their names were Farlan and Isabel and they, like me, had been outsiders since they were small. The Survey Corps had attacked their old pack for fighting on the side of Maria and they wanted revenge and were getting it by stealing their supplies and sabotaging their weapons. They had been living on the territory for years but had never been caught. They took me back to one of their hideaway spots and they fed me, even sharpened my blade. They said I was free to leave whenever I wanted and they even offered to guide me off Survey Corps territory but I didn't want to go. I saw the massive haul of supplies they had hidden up in the trees, right under their stuffy noses. I kept thinking of the scrounging dogs that killed my mother, their sheer arrogance and contempt of us, just because they were in a pack. I suddenly hated them all, I hated them with all my heart and I wanted to make their lives as difficult as possible. So, I told them I wanted to join them, I wanted to make them pay.

For the next two years, us three made their lives hell. We attacked their camp randomly, first going after their supplies and then going after their weapons. Nothing was too violent or destructive for us; we set things on fire, we sent falling trees on their carts, we did anything we could think of. I stole so many blades, I could have practised with a new one every day for the rest of my life and still had some to spare. I got so good with them, nobody ever saw me coming and the guards would whisper about me like I was Death itself. I learned quickly how to be stealthy, how to move in a way that no one would see you and I trained my reflexes to move faster than lightning. That was where I learned most the skills I know today, that was what made me the soldier I am. The Survey Corps never made me. They forced me into becoming who I was by taking everything they could from me.

The three of us together were unstoppable. We laid siege to that camp like we were an army and we brought it to its knees in a way your pack could never dream of. They send so many soldiers out to catch us but they never could, we were too fast for them. We became friends but after a while, I realised they were more than that. They became the brother and sister I never had and I risked my own life several times to protect them and they did the same for me. Isabel was the worst one for it; she leapt in front of me and Farlan so many times, it was like she wanted to get killed." His voice was gruff but there was an underlying fondness that he couldn't try to disguise. "You remind me a lot of her in certain ways. She was a right brat too."

Eren smiled a little, his hand trailing up to the stubble at the back of Levi's head as he continued. "Then one day, everything just came crashing down on us. We got too cocky, we thought we were unstoppable, there was no way they could catch us… we got reckless and we paid the price for it. One night, we went to attack the main body of their camp; I can't even remember what our plan was or if we even had one, I just wanted to strike at their heart and make them pay. I let my anger get the better of me and I made a stupid decision. As we snuck into the camp, Farlan kept pointing out that it was too easy- there were less guards than usual and they almost seemed to be avoiding certain parts of the wall. Isabel was getting worried and she said that we should turn back but I didn't want to. I was blinded with rage and all I wanted to do was hurt so I told them to shut it and push forwards. I was too young and too dumb to see we were walking into a trap.

It was when we were almost in the centre of the camp when it happened. The place was entirely silent and I got too bold, too cocky and made a move across open ground. It was dark and I was convinced no one was there, I only realised it was a trap when it was too late. One minute the whole camp was empty and the next, this voice boomed out and we were being attacked from all sides. There were so many of them, swarming around us like flies and I knew then I had played right into their hands.

I remember yelling at Farlan and Isabel to run as I tried to hold them off. I hoped I could distract them long enough for those two to escape and I fought with everything I had. People afterwards told me I looked like the Devil himself had possessed me but the only thing I could think of was getting my friends out. It took almost an entire squad to finally defeat me- they just kept coming and coming until I was pinned down and even then, they had to wrestle my blades away and tie my hands behind my back. I remember kneeling down in the mud, rope tied all around me in big knots that cut into my skin and my blades were nowhere to be seen. The crowd are me were all whispering and staring at me like I was a wild animal and some of them were even jeering and throwing things at me. Then I remember they all went quiet and suddenly I heard that booming voice again, asking me who I was and which pack I belonged to. That was when I first met Erwin.

He appeared almost like a god, this great man with steely blue eyes and blond hair who towered above me like a giant. He asked me all these questions and I refused to answer him, demanding to know what had happened to my friends. I expected him to say that they had gotten away. I never thought he would tell me that they were dead."

Levi felt Eren stiffened again. "They killed them too?" He whispered, his hand sliding into Levi's thick black hair and Levi had to stop himself from purring at the pleasant sensation. "How?"

"There were just too many of them." Levi told him, gripping at Eren's body like it was a life raft in a choppy sea. "We were outnumbered, plain and simple. There was no way they could have gotten out alive but I just hadn't seen it. I thought there was a chance and when I saw how their bodies had been mangled…" He shook in Eren's arms and the boy pressed him tighter, holding them together so there was no gap between their bodies. It was reassuring to feel Eren's weight bearing down on him, comforting to have his arms to keep him grounded and those were the only things that kept him able to speak still. "The crowd had just torn them apart, ripped them into pieces like they were made of rags. I can still remember both their eyes-they were desperate and frenzied and Farlan still had one arm reaching out, like they had been so close… That was when I lost it. I went into a frenzy, screaming and shouting about how I was going to murder them all. Erwin didn't say a word; he just let me rave like a madman, watched me as I eventually exhausted myself and then he picked me up and took me inside the building I had wanted to destroy. He put me down in the basement in a cell, he gave me water and he even untied me a little. He asked me if I would hear him out and, though I didn't want to be compliant, I agreed to. That was when he said he wanted to give me a chance in the army.

At first, I laughed. I thought he was playing a trick on me or that he had gone mad but he was actually deadly serious. He told me that I had destroyed countless tonnes of supplies and because of me and my friends, the Survey Corps were actually falling behind in their war against the Maria pack. He said that he could just have me executed but that would be a waste of potential- he had watched me fight and nearly win against some of his best squadrons and he told me I was one of the most skilled fighters he had ever seen. He wanted to use my skills to turn the tide of the war, with a soldier as deadly as a whole squad, how could they lose? It was my choice- either I waste away in prison for a few days and then get hanged or I repay the army for all the stuff I sabotaged with my service and in return, I would be made a member of their pack. The choice wasn't one I made easily; when he first told me his deal, I wanted to spit it back in his face. I was willing to die but then I thought of my mother, of Farlan and Isabel and I knew they wouldn't have wanted me to do that. Even if I was with their enemy, they wouldn't have wanted me to die so pointlessly and so I agreed. The next morning when I walked out of that dungeon, I had been sworn into the Survey Corps and I was wearing their armour. And the rest is history.

I fought in the last few years of the war, slowly making my way up the ranks until I was the leader of their whole army. The pack soon forgot that I had once been their worst enemy and they respected me, looked up to me like I was on some fucking pedestal. I've led the charge in so many battles, I've lost count but I'll never forget the Last Stand. That was truly the worst, it was like walking into Hell itself and I don't think anybody who came back from that ever actually recovered. After that, Erwin insisted we negotiate peace and I supported him- people were surprisingly willing to listen when both of us were in agreement. We signed a treaty with your pack, we all went home and disbanded and I told Erwin I never wanted to lead the army again. He told me I could step down and now I'm just a soldier like everyone else there." He gave a sigh. "For the past eight years, I've just been keeping the peace with Erwin and Hanji. Everyone sees me as this great war hero but I don't feel much like one. I don't really even feel like a human at times- I just feel like a monster."

Those words were what finally broke the dam that Levi had been trying to hold together and he realised he was crying when Eren's shoulder suddenly got wet. He slumped forwards, letting Eren carry his weight as the two of them held each other close like they never wanted to let go. Levi could sense Eren was crying again, his chest heaving as he tried to draw air into his lungs and that made him cling to the younger man. It was the only thing he could think to do and once again, for the second time in a day, he felt totally powerless.

"That's why I didn't want to tell you," he said honestly, his voice only just wavering. "I thought you would despise me, not just because I lead their army but because I've done so much that I can't forgive myself for. I can't expect you to forgive me when I can't do it myself. If you want to leave and never see me again-"

"No." Eren suddenly cut over him, his voice so firm Levi snapped his jaw shut instantly. "I'm still angry at you for not telling me the truth sooner but I can understand why you didn't. You never pressured me to tell you anything about my past and so I never asked for yours. But Levi… I'm glad you told me about your mother and your friends. You've lost so many people already and I don't want to be another one. Please don't hate yourself because… because I really don't hate you."

Levi couldn't help but let out a shuddering gasp at that. He didn't know what he had expected to hear from Eren but it was nothing like that. Half of him was left in disbelief- how can he say that? After all I said, he still wants to see me? -but the rest of him felt such pure relief that he couldn't help but sag underneath it. He sank to his knees, Eren falling with him as the two of them clasped each other tightly, neither of them knowing who was holding up who.

"It's OK," Eren murmured softly to Levi as he ran his hand through his hair, soothing him like he was a small child as he silently wept into his shoulder. "It's OK Levi, you don't have to worry anymore, I've got you. I've got you and I'm not going anywhere. I've got you."


	7. Chapter 7

_Hi there again!_

 _I'm sorry this took a little longer than I had hoped but I do have quite a few stories on at the moment, including some original ones, and unfortunately I can't write all the time, though I would very much like to. This is a chapter I've been looking forwards to and I wanted to just get it perfect. The comments I've been getting have just been so good and I want them to continue like that._

 _Hope you all enjoy!_

After that night, everything felt like it had changed. The pair of them had stayed by the lake until the blood orange sun rose the following morning, their arms still tightly entangled like they had been welded together, and when they had eventually been forced to let go, it was like the air around them had shifted. It now felt heavier, thicker when they were around each other, like something was steadily, steadily building and both of them could feel the anticipation of it prickling their skin. When they were down by the lake, it felt sometimes like the world around them was holding their breath for something to happen; the trees seemed to bend towards them like they were trying to catch their conversations and the waters of the lake seemed to crawl up the beach towards them at a much faster pace, like it was edging them towards something that neither of them were completely sure of.

Neither of them had acknowledged that the atmosphere between them had changed but both of them could sense it, Eren in particular. He had known things would be different between them the moment after Levi had spilled his soul to him and he had promised he wouldn't leave but he hadn't imagined that they would change so much, nor had he imagined he would enjoy them so much. Ever since Levi had told him about his past and how the Survey Corps had taken both their mothers and loved ones away, the man hadn't changed his behaviour massively (he was still very sarcastic and rude a lot of the time) but he had softened around the edges; he no longer seemed so angry all the time and even when he was, he never directed it at Eren anymore. He still called him brat but now when he said the word, there was an affectionate edge to it that had never been there before and Eren felt a warm feeling bloom in his chest every single time he heard it. He had thought once he had a crush on this man but he knew now that had been completely wrong; he had fallen head over heels for him instead and now there was no way for him to go back.

His newly realised feelings were only stoked by a new affection that they had fallen into. Since that night, they no longer met up every three nights; their visits were much more sporadic and frequent. Sometimes they would see each other every night for a week and then they wouldn't visit the lake for the next three days. There was never a night where one would turn up and be left waiting for the other; they weren't sure what it was but they would get a sense for when the other would need them there and they would go, no questions asked. They never needed to ask and they had never once been wrong. It was something that Eren had wondered about; he had never experienced anything like it in his life and he couldn't think of any other instances where he had heard others speak of it. It wasn't until he heard his friends talking about their coming of age and finding a mate did he remember something from a long-ago discussion with his mother. It was said that some bonded couples, once they had been mated for a while, could sense the other's feelings, particularly if they were in danger or distress, as some kind of old instinct to protect. His mother had told him that she had never had that with his father and that now she wished she had.

"Maybe then I could sense if he was safe or not." She had sighed as she had pulled him close and hummed into his hair. "That's all I really want to know my little wolf cub. I just want to know he's safe."

Eren had just been a boy then and he hadn't understood it. Why would his mother want to know how his father was feeling? He had betrayed them both by running away! Now, however, he remembered the conversation and his cheeks went scarlet. He knew that it couldn't be right, that couldn't be the reason because he and Levi weren't mates at all but it still made his heart leap to think of it. Just the thought of Levi being his mate, even if it was impossible, gave him a thrill that nobody could take away from him.

Since that night, the two of them had also gotten closer in more ways than one. Before that night, the pair of them had always had their designated spots where they sat, close to each other but never touching. There was always at least a hands width of distance between them, sometimes more if Levi was in a particular mood, but since that night where they had held each other, that had all gone out of the window. It was like some invisible barrier had been broken and each visit since just seemed to shatter it more and more. Whenever they sat together now, they were always touching; even if it was just Levi leaning his head against Eren's shoulder or Eren resting his hand over Levi's on the sand, they were always connected. It felt a little like they had to be, like something now wasn't right if they couldn't feel the other there and to Eren, the sensations he still felt whenever Levi was there were dizzying. It felt like an electric current surged through him whenever Levi brushed at his bare skin or whenever he felt the stubble and ran his fingers through the black locks at the back of his head. It was so intoxicating that he wondered how he had lived without it before and being able to have that with the older man made him grin like an idiot whenever he thought of it. However, what pleased him the most about it was the knowledge that Levi only did it because he trusted him. That night, he had put his soul in Eren's hands, just to show how much he trusted him not to hurt it, and Eren had proved to him that he was right to do so. Now, when Levi leaned back on him or touched his hand, Eren knew it was because the man trusted him, really trusted him not to leave, and that was what really made his heart soar.

Levi also couldn't help but notice the change in their relationship. They had started off barely feeling like friends, he could still remember how they had snapped at each other at their first meeting and how he had tried to ignore Eren until he got too annoying, but now they felt like so much more. He never visited the lake unless he knew Eren was there and he could never leave without having to forcibly drag himself away. He also found he couldn't leave without touching Eren somehow- even if it was just brushing hands or leaning on each other or letting Eren play with his hair, he found that the simplest things Eren did mollified him enough to stop him getting so mad during the day at camp. He felt greedy sometimes, his body aching for another touch, another soft stroke, another gentle body to lean against, and he berated himself sometimes for being creepy but he knew he was also a selfish man and that meant he didn't want to stop. He sometimes felt like he and Eren were walking on some very fine line, only just balancing themselves, and one day something would happen to make them fall.

He tried to dismiss his thoughts, thinking of them as nothing but these changes had seemingly affected him more than he thought. Everyone back at the Survey Corps camp seemed to eye him differently as he stalked through the camp, even when he was in wolf form and for good reason. He no longer snapped at everyone for small petty mistakes, he wasn't as eager to stamp down challengers to his title (though he still had to show a few who really was boss around here) and he even let the small children of the camp pet his fur without so much as a sulky huff. Hanji had commented a lot on it, enthusiastically coming up with theories to explain his new demeanour and trying to dig out the reason. Levi had threatened to kick her into a wall at one point but she still annoyingly persisted, leaping on him with theories at the most random times to try and catch him out. Even Erwin had mentioned that he seemed a little less grumpy but that had only been met with a snarl.

"No thanks to you, you big bastard." He had snapped before stalking off but even he had sensed there was less anger there than there once would have been. Damnit! He had thought. I really am going soft. Eren's going to get me fucking killed at this rate.

The worst thing was, he couldn't entirely say that he minded. He could sense that his feelings were beginning to burn inside him, heating him from the inside out and he sometimes wondered if Eren could feel them too, whether he could feel how Levi burned up like fire when they were close. It was too much and yet not enough at the same time but he couldn't voice what he wanted because he knew he couldn't have it.

We're from different packs, he told himself firmly on those few and far between nights when he did stay in his bed. We're supposed to be sworn enemies, not to mention I'm older than him by several years. Already we've gone too far and he won't want me like this.

That didn't stop him from hoping though.

The two of them spent a few weeks like this, happy enough and secure with each other enough to touch but at the same time, it felt like they were dancing around something, something that weighted the air around them and made it feel like they were moving through lead. Both of them were happy, happier than they had been in a long time but they still both were hoping for more. The heaviness between them felt like it should be addressed at some point but every time on went to speak, it felt like their throats had been stoppered by a cork and the words they wanted to say just wouldn't come out.

Maybe it wasn't meant to be, they both told themselves, even as the other leant on them and entwined their fingers, neither seeing the hop in each other's eyes. Being together with our packs and our pasts… it's just not meant to be.

OOO

It was the end of April when everything turned on its head. The nights were no longer so bitterly cold and the darkness was beginning to fall later with every passing day. That meant that often when Levi met Eren down by the lake, the sky was still light, streaked with pinks and oranges that blended together with big fluffy white clouds that looked like blobs of meringue dancing across them. Levi found he preferred meeting in the spring like this, not just because it wasn't so cold and his balls didn't freeze, but because the soft evening light always did wonders for Eren's skin, lavishing attention on him like an admirer. Whilst the moonlight favoured his own pale skin, the twilight clearly adored Eren as the soft light that signalled the sun's descent made his skin glow like warm honey. It also brought out all the gold flecks in his eyes, making them look like molten gold and shine even more brightly than Levi thought was possible.

Of course, the brat would have impossibly beautiful eyes, he always thought when he watched Eren talk, his green irises glittering even more as he animatedly spoke and waved his arms around in excited gestures. If they get any prettier, I'm never going to be able to stop looking at them. Fuck.

The two of them had arrived only an hour before, their minds surprisingly in sync as they had got there at almost the exact same time. Eren had grinned widely when he had spotted Levi emerging from the trees at the same time as him and Levi had been unable to stop his own lips curling at the same sight. He wasn't sure how they were doing it but he had noticed they never had to arrange meetings through speech anymore; it was like they just fundamentally knew when the other was there. He had brushed it aside, not really questioning it and it was all too easy to ignore when Eren was smiling at him like that and pulling him down to the sand urgently, unable to hold back his excited babble.

"Levi! You wouldn't believe what happened at camp earlier today with Horseface…"

"What did Jean do this time?" Levi asked with a sigh. He now knew most of Eren's friends by name just from the amount of times he had spoken about them but Jean's name- or rather Horseface as he nearly always called him when he was mad- was the one he heard the most frequently. He was kind of glad he had never met this kid in person- he was sure if he did see him and he witnessed him annoying Eren, he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from punching the boy in the gut.

"Oh, he's just being his stupid regular self," Eren huffed as he flopped onto the sand, Levi following him down seconds later. "He's acting all cocky, just because his birthday was earlier this month he thinks he's the bee's knees and it's driving me nuts! I mean seriously, can you believe…"

Levi smiled as Eren began to rant like normal, crossly telling him about the next heinous offence this Jean guy had committed. Levi couldn't help but find it amusing; Eren appeared to get worked up at whatever Jean did and likewise, Jean apparently seemed to exist simply to torment Eren. Levi couldn't help but chuckle fondly as the brat leaned on him, his head balanced precariously on his shoulder as his tirade of words continued at a rapid pace.

"He's exactly like the people you described Levi, he thinks he's so big now, just because he's 18! I thought he was arrogant before but it's gone up tenfold since his birthday, I swear to god, the only thing keeping me from killing him is that it would upset Marco and he's far too precious a soul to hurt…"

Levi nodded and made a noise of agreement as Eren went on. He had learnt from experience that there was no point talking when Eren was in a mood like this; the best thing to do was just listen and make the right noises until he had to breathe. Then you could speak. The thought made him chuckle again, a little louder this time and that time, Eren heard it.

"Did you just-Woah!" Wanting to hear more and to see Levi's face as he laughed, Eren tried to turn his head, momentarily forgetting that his head was wobblily perched on Levi's shoulder. Because of this, he quickly lost his balance and his head fell backwards, landing squarely in the middle of Levi's lap.

"Oof!" Levi grunted and Eren squeaked, more out of surprise than actual pain, before the pair of them froze as they stared at each other. Eren's body was now sprawled out over the beach, his head the only part of him not touching the sand as it was cushioned on Levi's thighs. His green eyes were blinking up into Levi's grey ones as the older man hadn't moved a muscle from his seated position. The air around them suddenly felt like spikes digging into their skin, the tension almost too much to bear, and as the seconds ticked by, Eren began to feel more panicked.

"I-I'm sorry!" He blurted out, trying to scrabble back into a sitting position but he found his limbs had turned to jelly under Levi's intense gaze and they were now flopping uselessly on the sand. "I didn't mean to do that, I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Hurt me?" Levi sounded almost baffled by the question. "I've lived through way worse than one brat falling on me. I'm fine."

"Oh. OK. Good." Eren said as he fell still. Even though the atmosphere was a little awkward, it was kind of nice down there. He couldn't help but admire how firm Levi's leg muscles were (they could rival Mikasa's, was his first thought) and they were also surprisingly comfortable. He wriggled his head a little, watching how Levi's expression flickered but didn't change, before he stretched out his legs and asked tentatively "Should I continue?"

Levi's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and he almost stuttered himself. "Yeah," he managed to choke out, trying to ignore the fact Eren that was currently lying right on top of him and didn't want to move. The heaviness of his head on his legs was an almost pleasant one and he suddenly was hit with a desire to keep him there as long as possible. "Go ahead."

"OK." Eren shot him a dazzling smile before he threw himself back into his rant against Jean. He continued to talk like before, still rapidly spitting out words like gunfire and wildly moving his arms, but Levi found it was difficult to keep focused on his words. All he could think about was the pleasant weight on his legs and how much it pleased him that it was there. Though they had had a lot of contact in the past few weeks, this felt much more intimate, more domestic than before, and Levi couldn't help but enjoy it.

I'd happily charge into battle again if it meant doing this every night for the rest of my life, he thought as one of his hands trailed upwards and buried itself in Eren's thick hair. He hesitated for a second, afraid he had overstepped some invisible boundary, but Eren didn't even pause in his speech, acting like he hadn't even noticed. Levi gave a small sigh of relief before he started to run his fingers through the thick brown locks. The strands curled around his fingers, almost like they were trying to trap them there and his lips twitched into a faint smile. Something about their position felt so warm and so right; he could almost feel the inner animal part of him purring with pride, even though he knew that was ridiculous. Eren continued to talk, eagerly looking up at Levi every so often to catch sight of him nodding, and Levi couldn't remember the last time he had felt this content. Everything here was right, he thought, everything was right and safe.

Then suddenly Eren stopped talking, his eyes going wide as he looked down.

"Levi…"

Levi followed his gaze and his entire body froze up like a statue. He had been so absorbed playing with Eren's hair, that he hadn't even registered what his other hand had been doing. Unconsciously, it had drifted to Eren's stomach and was now resting there, the tips of his fingers rubbing small circles into the fabric of his shirt. Levi felt paralysed with shock but his eyes widened even more when he saw that some of Eren's shirt had ridden up, exposing a slim strip of his toned, honey-coloured stomach that part of his palm was resting on…

He felt horrified. How had he not realised he was doing that? He must look like such a creep right now, touching him like that… Disgusted with himself, he went to pull his hand back but, quick as a flash of light, a hand whipped out and grabbed his wrist, keeping his hand firmly in place.

"You… you don't have to stop." Eren said, his voice sounding like it was close to cracking with nerves but he still stood firm. "I… I don't want you to stop."

Slowly, Eren pressed Levi's hand back down, so every inch of his hand was splayed against his stomach. Then, he slowly dragged it upwards, creasing the material of his shirt and making it bunch under his chin in a collection of white ripples but Levi wasn't staring at that. He was looking down at where his hand was touching the warm skin of Eren's torso, feeling every dip and curve and bump of each rope-like muscle and with every inch his hand moved, a new patch of skin was revealed to him that he just couldn't look away from.

"Eren…" He felt spellbound, his voice rasping out and his throat feeling tight. He was all too conscious of Eren's eyes on him, how they were zeroing in on his gasping breaths and the tightening of his limbs, the signs that he was slowly, slowly losing all control. All he wanted was to reach down and attach his mouth to the sight that was being unveiled before him, he wanted to hear how Eren's breath would hitch and moan as he nibbled at his skin, losing his cool like Levi was now. But he knew he couldn't. All the doubts he had, their age gap, their packs, the fact that they were basically each other's deepest secret, were bubbling back up into his mind and he could hear them screaming like banshees.

Are you insane? They seemed to be saying, relentlessly pounding into his head. You need to get up and walk away! However, they couldn't compare to the sheer thrall Eren had him in at that moment; next to him, they were nothing but faint thuds in his heads, like distant footsteps, and as for walking away, he didn't know if he had the strength to.

Still he tried. "Eren, we shouldn't be doing this." He forced out, his breathless voice barely above a whisper. "This isn't right."

"Why isn't it?" Eren asked, suddenly bolder as his eyes searched Levi's face. From his tone, it was clear he was demanding an answer and he was going to get it. "Why isn't it right? You're saying you don't want this?"

"No! That's not what I'm saying at all!" Levi cursed at himself; he didn't need to turn around to know Eren's face had just lit up in triumph. "I'm saying that we shouldn't be doing this, we've already gone too far as it is…"

"You never cared about that before." Eren pointed out sharply, his fingers gripping Levi's wrist harder like the pressure could persuade him. "The fact that I'm Maria never mattered to you before."

"It's not just about our packs Eren." Levi tried to say. The act of speaking was getting more and more difficult as Eren slowly sat up, inch by inch bringing his face closer to Levi's and making all the words he had fly off his tongue like startled birds. "I'm years older than you, I've fought in a war, I've seen things you couldn't imagine, I can't expect you to shoulder my burdens with me. You're young, you have more of a chance at happiness, you should take it with someone else…"

"I don't care!" Eren suddenly snapped, forcing Levi to stop and listen. "I don't give a damn about all that and you know it! I've known all those things for a long time, ever since I met you, and I'm still here, aren't I? I've heard about all those things you did, I held you as you told me and you held me when I told you about my past as well or have you already forgotten that?"

"Eren…" Levi tried to speak over him but Eren quickly raised his other hand, the one that wasn't holding Levi's wrist captive, and pressed his fingers onto Levi's mouth, making him go silent.

"You asked me not to leave and I promised you I wouldn't." Eren said determinedly, his voice the boldest Levi had ever heard it sound. "I told you I wasn't going to leave you but the truth is I don't think I can if I tried. I know I'm young and I'm still naïve in a lot of things but I still know what I'm feeling and I know you feel it too. I don't care because I just want a chance for happiness in this world and I'm not going to let it pass. I want this just as much as you Levi," His voice dropped into a whisper as the hand on his lips suddenly moved to cup his cheek instead. "So what's holding you back?"

For a few seconds, Levi was stunned. He felt almost overwhelmed, like a strong tide had him in its grasp and was beating him from all directions. The only thing holding him there was the earnest look in Eren's eyes. His bright green eyes were staring into his and they promised only honestly, told him that every word Eren had said was true. It was at that moment when all his resolve crumbled and the doubts in his head became a low din he couldn't even hear anymore. All everybody wants is to seek happiness, he thought. Why should I stop myself seeking it too?

"Nothing." He whispered back, Eren's face now so close to his he could feel the heat of both their breaths. "Absolutely nothing."

The second after whispering his answer, he slammed his lips onto Eren's, unable to hold himself back for a moment longer. Eren met him hungrily, both his hands going to Levi's face to pull him closer as his body pressed them both back against the rocks. Levi could feel their ridges in his back but he didn't care as both his hands, now freed from Eren's grip, went to Eren's back and pulled him closer so their bodies slotted perfectly together. He felt more than heard Eren's low moan as it vibrated against his own lips and he gave his own in response. This is heavenly, he could only just think as his hand trailed back up into Eren's hair and harshly fisted itself in the strands. This is better than I ever could have thought.

"Levi…" Eren moaned, shortly pulling away from the kiss for air before he dived back in, kissing Levi with everything he had. Their lips were already wet, glistening pink with spit like they were slobbering on each other and Eren was revelling in it. He adored the fact that he could get Levi, the man with the stone-cold façade and impenetrable gaze, into a state like this, one where he was desperate for him and couldn't get enough. He met Levi with everything he had and when the older man had to draw back to gasp for breath, he peppered kisses on all the parts of him he could reach, starting on his cheeks and jawline before dipping down and tracing the line of his neck.

"Oh fuck…" He heard Levi choke out and he couldn't stop himself from grinning against Levi's pale skin. He licked and bit lightly at the join of his neck and shoulder, pushing away his shirt to get to it as he nuzzled against it like he was in his wolf form. He circled his hips slightly, rutting their two bodies together and they both gave low moans.

"Fuck, we're not doing this here." He heard Levi growl above him before suddenly there were two hands under his thighs and he was hoisted upwards with a squeal. "I'm not getting sand all over me just because you're such a goddamn teenager."

Eren had to laugh as Levi carried him to god knows where. "Trust you to think of getting dirty when we're doing this." He said but there was no trace of grumpiness in his voice and he continued to lavish attention on Levi's skin, getting bolder as he nipped harder below Levi's collar. There it would be easier to hide any marks and so he gleefully set to work turning the pale canvas red and blotchy with his teeth.

"Shit Eren," Levi grunted through his teeth, showing how much restraint, he was putting into not devouring Eren on the spot. "Are you trying to kill me?"

Eren only responded with a giggle before he licked a stripe right up the middle of his neck. Seconds later, he felt the hands holding him up disappear, causing him to crash backwards and hit the ground.

"Hey!" He glared up at Levi, who now had a wide smirk on his face, before he realised he was lying in a patch of wild flowers. Bright pink and white petals surrounded him, dusting his face with their silkiness and the grass was surprisingly soft and springy, almost like a mattress. He looked back up to see Levi was smiling, one that was more genuine than just the curling of his lips, and he almost wanted to cry. Had Levi seen that spot and realised how perfect it was? Not only was it soft and romantic as hell, the flowers also had a strong perfume, meaning that any of the other's smell would get washed away.

Eren reached up his arms for Levi to join him and the man didn't need telling twice. "Brat." He mumbled fondly against Eren's lips before he kissed them again, slowly and deeply at first before both of their passions got the better of them. Within minutes, the pair were clawing at each other, their bodies so tightly pressed to each other's, it was like they were hoping the heat would melt them together. Eren's shirt, already a crumpled mess, was quickly pulled over his head and discarded and Levi's went not long after. Their hands travelled over each other's bodies almost desperately, pinching and stroking and sucking almost frantically, like it was all a dream and any moment they would wake up. They wrestled for a long time over who was on top but Eren finally won when he clambered on top of Levi and ground his hips down again, meeting Levi's crotch dead on.

"Fuck!" He cried out again, his back keening at the new sensation and Eren gave a grin before he did it again harder. Both of them moaned as their clothed bulges rubbed against each other, the friction almost too delicious to bear and Levi found he was gripping Eren's shoulders so hard, he could see little red crescents beginning to form, little half-moons going white against the pressure.

Good, he thought. Let everyone see he's mine.

He wasn't sure where such a possessive thought had come from but his mind was suddenly wiped as Eren's movements got faster, rolling his hips like he was performing a lap dance and hitting Levi in the right spot every single time. The pleasure was washing over both of them like a flood and Levi could hear himself loudly moaning and gasping as he squirmed under Eren. It was all too much, he felt like he was about to burst out of his skin with the heat and the pleasure yet he couldn't stop himself wanting more.

"Oh god! Eren, fuck, wait fuck…" He gasped out in an attempt to stop him but then Eren pressed himself down hard on Levi, just in the right place, and it was all too late. He cried out and clenched his eyes shut as pleasure pulsed through his body, making his toes curl and his finger dig even harder into Eren's skin. He couldn't think of the last time he had experienced a rush quite as great as that- it had been a long time since had had anyone else to help him. Now he didn't want anyone else but Eren ever again.

Above him, Eren rutted a couple more times, his thrusts more and more erratic until he too shuddered and his body flopped, landing on Levi as his chest heaved. For a long moment, the two of them just laid there, their breathing slowly returning to normal until Levi felt the sticky dampness of his trousers and groaned.

Great, he thought. I can't believe I just came in my pants like a fucking teenager.

"I can't believe you just made me do that," He huffed as he voiced his complaints out loud, staring up at the sky. "Now I've got to walk back to camp with a soggy crotch."

"You weren't complaining earlier." Eren snarked back, sounding like he had just won a great victory. "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm in the same boat."

"Yes but you're a teenager, everyone expects you to have no control of your bodily fluids" Levi snapped. "For someone my age, it's just embarrassing."

He made to sit up, his arms raising to push Eren off of him but the younger man suddenly clung to him, his arms wound tightly around him like a baby monkey.

"Please." He said quietly, speaking against Levi's neck where he had left so many marks. Some of them were already beginning to fade but others stood out proudly in their purple-reddish hues and both of them knew they would be there for a good couple of days. "Please stay for a little longer."

Levi instantly felt himself soften. "I was only going to try and clean up a little," he said, stroking the top of Eren's head and lying back down among the flowers, trying not to sound too pleased when Eren gave a pleased purr and nuzzled back into his side. "But I guess I can put it off for a little while."

The real truth was, he never wanted to get up ever again.


	8. Chapter 8

_So this chapter was fun to write hehehe..._

 _This took me a little longer than expected, mainly because I have a bunch of other stuff going on and so this got less time than I wanted. I hope you all like it because this is a last bit of silliness before more plot comes along to crush them..._

 _All your reviews have been great and more might help this speed up a little more!_

Is it me or is it sunnier than normal today? Eren wondered as he looked up at the sky, the long expanse of turquoise above him looking more like a smile the longer he stared at it. There wasn't a single cloud on the horizon as he beamed up at it; the camp hadn't seen such nice weather for months now and the air was hopeful as people hoped the warmth and bright sunshine would continue and favour their crops. There were many more smiles around the camp that morning and most of his friends had put Eren's bright smile down to the nice weather but only he knew that he would have still been smiling even if the heavens had been pouring down with thick rain or if it had decided to snow for hours on end. His overjoyed feelings about what had happened last night still hadn't left him and there was so much happiness swelling inside of him, it felt like he was going to burst at any second.

He had kissed Levi. _He had kissed Levi_. Just the thought that that had really happened was enough to make him smile so wide, he felt like his cheeks would split under the pressure. He only had to close his eyes to see Levi's face, his expression wrecked as his eyes trailed up Eren's body with his lips pressed together and his hand looking ready to snap, his body tensed like a spring pulled to its very limit, desperate to let go. It had given him such a rush of power, to think that he could do that to the man who seemed to have the most self-control of anyone he knew, and that had only been increased when he had made the clean man, the same one who insisted on brushing him down every time he saw him, cum in his pants, unable to stop himself from soiling them. Just that knowledge was enough to make his heart beat faster and his blood run south and now, as he worked outside, he had to quickly divert this thoughts in order to keep himself under control. Nobody would ever let me live it down if I popped a boner in public, he thought, biting his lips to distract himself from his groin. And in these trousers, it would be super obvious.

In all honesty, he hadn't imagined rutting in a patch of wild flowers against a member of his enemy pack would be how his first time went but now it had happened, he didn't regret a thing. He and Levi had ended up lying there entwined until the sun came up, just breathing in each other's scents and nuzzling as they lazily kissed like they had all the time in the world. He could still feel Levi's fingers tracing his jawline, his hands lightly running over his body like he was trying to map him and it still made his skin tingle. Running back to camp in dried sticky pants and trying to sneakily wash them before anyone could see how soiled they were had not been what he had expected to do that morning but he knew it had all been worth it. He just had to think of the look Levi had given him as they quickly kissed goodbye and he had had to walk away, his smile soft and gentle but his eyes looking like all they wanted was to pull him back into those wild flowers and keep him a willing prisoner, and that was enough for him to grin like a maniac. He knew he would have loved whatever happened between him and Levi but as he looked back on it, he knew he wouldn't have changed a single thing. It had been perfect.

"Eren? Eren!" Mikasa's voice suddenly cut through his daydreaming, her sharp voice like a blade, and Eren's head bobbed as he looked up in panic. "Can you at least try to pay attention to these maps please? This is really important!"

Shaken, Eren looked back down at the table and the sprawling mass of paper that was spread out in front of them. All of Armin's maps had been laid before his eyes, the sheets kept flat by small rocks in each corner that also prevented them fluttering away in the breeze and each one showed a different part of their territory. Every path, landmark and small village throughout the large territory of the Maria pack had been dutifully drawn out in black ink and labelled in his friend's small neat handwriting and every line was so clean and clear, with added cute little drawings of trees, rocks and houses, Eren sometimes wondered if Armin should have taken up painting instead of cartography. His collection of maps was Armin's pride and joy; ever since the three of them had joined the army and been made scouts, he had recorded every route they had ever taken and every place they had ever been in excruciating detail.

"It's to make a record for the army to use," he had explained once to Eren in their early days when he had asked him why he was always lugging around so much paper. "Maps are incredibly useful for military strategy. If the enemy invades your territory and you don't know what the terrain is like, all the possible places they could hide, what supplies and civilians are nearby, then you've already lost. These will be very useful if, heaven forbid, we ever get into a war again."

Now, after years of painstaking drawing and exploring, Armin had a collection of maps that was frankly astounding. Eren still found himself blinking in amazement when he looked down at the table even though he had seen Armin unveil his map collection many times before. There were over two dozen maps stretched out on the table, overlapping and curling into each other like a giant patchwork quilt and still there were more at the other end, stacked into a neat pyramid that Eren knew Armin would defend with his life if he had to. It was easy to tell which maps were new and which ones were older; some of the paper had visibly yellowed over time and their darker colours made them easily stand out against the more creamy and white hues of the newer maps. Some of them were so old that Armin had redrawn them on newer paper but everyone knew he would never throw the old one away- it was like each map was his baby and he would have rather lost a limb than toss one away.

Armin was currently viewing him with concern, the skin between his eyes creased like he suspected something was up. Eren shot him a smile but he could feel it weakening on his face under Armin's steady blue eyes and he could almost hear his suspicion levels rising.

"Eren, are you OK? You seem a bit out of it."

"I'm fine." Eren responded. "Just a little bit tired, that's all." He rubbed at his eyes and gave a yawn to make it seem more believable, though he found he didn't have to pretend much- after weeks on end of late nights, he found he was getting more and more exhausted. Armin didn't quite look convinced at his little show but Mikasa was instantly by his side, her eyes scanning his face as she pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Are you sure you're OK?" She asked him as he tried to wriggle away. "You have been looking a little tired recently… you aren't feeling sick, are you?"

"Mikasa I'm fine!" Eren insisted before turning back to the maps. "Right, now what were we doing again?"

"Armin rolled his eyes a little but he dutifully repeated what he had just said. "Commander Shadis wants us to go through all the maps I have showing the borders of our lands. He wants to see if there are any vulnerable spots that an enemy could use to their advantage if we were ever attacked."

Eren jerked his head up from the maps to stare at his friend. "He does?" He asked in surprise. "Does that mean he thinks we're going to be attacked?"

Armin shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not sure."

"Maybe he's just doing a defence check." Mikasa suggested but even she didn't sound convinced by her own words.

Eren sniffed. "Has he ever asked you for your maps before when making a defence check?" When Armin slowly shook his head, Eren scowl deepened. "C'mon guys, I know you're not blind. Have you seen some of the things that have been happening recently? First there's been the endless scouting missions, then the hunting trips have gone down… and now the Commander wants us to pour over Armin's maps for weaknesses in our territory? There's definitely something going on here. Don't you think so Armin?"

Armin looked back down at the maps. "I did think it all seemed a little strange… you are right, Shadis has never wanted us to examine my maps so closely. It does seem like we're getting ready for another war, like something is going to attack us and we're planning the defences."

"Either that," Eren said darkly. "Or we're planning an attack." He suddenly slammed his fist into the table, making both of the others jump and dislodging some of the small rocks on the table. "Why don't people ever learn? We had a war barely eight years ago and it almost decimated us… why do our leaders want to push us into another one so quickly? It's idiotic and it's going to get us all killed!"

"Eren!" Mikasa suddenly barked, causing both men to freeze up and stare at her with their eyes wide in fear. The whole camp had heard that tone of voice and nobody messed with her when she used it, especially those two. "You don't know that they are planning another war, none of us do. Nobody can surely be that stupid as to plunge us all into another fight when everybody still has fresh memories of the last one. We can't be sure what Shadis and the others are planning but we will not jump headfirst into conclusions we can't back up."

"But Mikasa…"

"Eren." She said again even more firmly, finally making him seal his lips. "I'm not having you cause a fuss about this. If people hear you talking like this, you could get in serious trouble and I'm not allowing that."

The words 'you're all the family I have left' were left unspoken but Eren could hear them all the same. "OK Mikasa." He said softly, making the young woman give a smile and a small hug. "I'll try not to get in trouble."

"Thank you," She said. "You know, you have been a lot better recently. You haven't said a word about going off of our territory, you've not been fighting with Jean as much… I'm really proud of you."

Eren chuckled, trying to disguise how he felt like a dagger had been twisted in his stomach. He really did feel guilty; he wanted to tell his sister and his best friend about Levi, tell them both how much he had fallen for him but he knew that was impossible. They, like him, were still grieving the loss of their families in the war and, even though their hatred for the Survey Corps had never been as powerful or potent as his, they still would never approve of him being with one of them. "It's only because Horseface hasn't been coming up with good insults recently. A child could have come up with better comebacks than the ones he's been using lately."

Armin gave a nod. "You know, I do think Jean has mellowed out somewhat. I can't think of the last time he really tried to pick a fight with Eren- all the recent ones just seem to have been knee jerk reactions to his annoying presence."

"Gee thanks Armin." Eren groaned back as Armin just grinned at him. "Please, tell me what you really think about me. Anyway, can we stop talking about that stupid horse and focus on what we're supposed to be doing?"

"Oh, about that," Armin said. "I lent Jean one of these maps because he needed it to plan out a new route for him and Marco. Could you go and see if he's done with it?"

"You lent Jean one of these?" Eren asked. "He'll just get stains on it, or worse he'll rip it with those hooves of his."

"Eren, please just go get it? For me?" Armin pouted and gave Eren his widest puppy eyes, shifting into his dog form so he could properly beg. Eren gave a long groan.

"Armin, you know I can't resist it when you do that…"

"Please Eren? Pretty please?" Armin pleaded, still as a dog, and Eren finally relented.

"All right, I'll go get that map from Horseface. Now stop giving me the dog face!"

"Great!" Armin replied, instantly shifting back into human form and returning to his maps. "I think he and Marco are out by the storage barns, that's where I saw them last. Don't take too long, we've got a lot of work to do!"

"Fine." Eren huffed as he walked away from the table and stalked towards the barns, leaving Armin and Mikasa to pour over the maps. Stupid Horseface, he inwardly grumbled, swishing crossly at an innocent blade of long grass that he passed. Why would Armin lend him a map? He wouldn't trust Jean with anything, let alone a precious map he spent hours on. He gave a sigh. Armin had been right though; despite the fact that the two of them still got into spats on an almost daily basis, Jean had seemed a little quieter these past few weeks. It had almost felt like during their fights, his mind was elsewhere and he wasn't as focused on annoying Eren as much.

I wonder what has gotten into him, Eren thought, spotting the storage barns up ahead and quickening his pace so he could get the job over and done with. It can't be because he's got more mature. There has to be something else.

"Hello?" He called out as he reached the buildings, looking around for any signs of either him or Marco. "Jean, are you here? If you are, get your head out of the hay and give me Armin's map, he needs it for-"

Eren rounded the corner of the barn and stopped dead in his tracks, the end of his sentence forgotten as he just stared at the sight he had been confronted with. His knees felt like they were going to give out from under him in shock and he gave a loud strangled gasp but the two men in front of him didn't even appear to notice, too wrapped up in each other to register his presence.

Jean was pressed up against the barn wall, his blond hair tousled and his eyes screwed shut as he tried to clench his mouth shut and stop his long groans escaping. However, he was failing miserably at it and the sounds were ringing in Eren's ears as a blush rose on his cheeks. The front of Jean's white shirt had been ripped open, exposing his collarbone and most of his left shoulder to the sunlight, and Marco lips were grazing across the skin there, his mouth and teeth pressing so hard, he left a trail of red marks in his wake. His arms were tightly gripping Jean's thighs, his fingers forming claws as he dug into the flesh there and pinned him against the wall, whilst Jean's legs had wrapped themselves around his waist, holding him there securely and pressing their bodies together. His hands were scrabbling against his backs, trying to tear at the material as Marco murmured words into his skin that left Eren stunned.

"Fuck Jean, you're squeezing me so hard right now. You're so desperate for me now, aren't you? Do you wish you had my cock in you? Where would you want it, your mouth maybe? You do such a good job of using that big mouth of yours…"

Eren almost choked when he heard that. So much for Marco being a precious soul who needed to be protected. From where he stood, it looked more like Jean needed protecting from him. Jean was wantonly moaning, clutching at Marco like he was a lifeline as his head dipped downwards and his tongue flicked at a nipple.

"Please Marco, please give it to me…" He groaned out shamelessly, his voice sounding so helpless and needy that Eren couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Oh my God Jean, I never thought I'd hear that coming out of your mouth!"

At the sound of his words, the two men promptly froze, their heads turning towards him with their eyes wide in panic. When they saw Eren standing there cracking up, they both had very different reactions. Marco let out a shrill sound that could have been a scream as his face went crimson and he tried to hide it in Jean's shoulder, all whilst trying not to drop him. However, Jean was making that task very difficult as his arms were flailing about and he was shouting angrily at Eren, trying to free himself from Marco's tight embarrassed grip so he could get at him.

"Eren, you pervert!" He bellowed as Eren spotted a pile of deserted maps on the floor a few feet away from them and dove to scoop them up, a giant shit-eating grin on his face as he watched Jean struggle. "How long were you standing there, you creep?! I'll have your guts for this, you bastard! Just wait 'til I get my hands on you!"

"You'll have to catch me first!" Eren grinned at him before he started tearing off in the other direction, the unravelled map in his hand flying behind him like a flag as he ran as fast as he could away from the barns. "Hey guys, I got the map! And Horseface got a little something too!"

"EREN! I'm going to kill you!"

"You'll have to catch me first!" Eren shouted over his shoulder as he bolted towards the table where his friends were.

"What's Eren shouting about?" Armin asked as he poked his head up and stared confused at the sight that was currently zigzagging towards them. Eren was pelting towards their table like he was being carried by the wind, Armin's map threatening to wind around his legs as it fluttered madly in the breeze as he was chased by a very angry-looking Jean, whose face was bright red from screaming and whose shirt was flapping somewhere around his middle. There were some very incriminating bruises forming on his torso and Armin's eyebrows shot up at the sight. It was only made worse when Marco came running into the scene, chasing after Jean with his cheeks looking like giant tomatoes.

Mikasa looked up at that moment and her eyes went wide. "What on earth is going on?"

"I don't know." Armin sighed as Jean finally caught up with Eren when he tried to make a U-turn and rugby-tackled him to the ground. "But I think you might need to save Eren before something apart from Jean's dignity gets hurt."

OOO

Meanwhile, over at the Survey Corps camp, Levi grunted hard as he slammed his fist into the middle of the straw bag. It made a heavy thudding noise as it swung back on its thick chain but that didn't stop Levi from attacking it again and again. His leg swung out in a roundhouse kick and he let out a shout as the bag was propelled backwards and hit the wall. He let it swing from side to side as he wiped his sweaty forehead, watching it finally come to a stop before he walked away to grab a drink of water. A wooden cup sat on a small table in the corner and he took a gulp from it, not caring how a few dribbles of the cold liquid spilled from the corners of his mouth and flowed down his bare chest, running into the dips of his muscles like rivers filling a canyon. It was too damn hot in here, he thought, swiping a hand across his mouth and splashing some of the water onto his face. He needed to cool down somehow.

At this time of day, the sun was low and the training room was cast in long strangely fuzzy shadows that were enough to make the room dark but not enough to cool it down. This was Levi's favourite time to train as it meant there were no cocky youngsters in there, clogging up the place and trying to show off in front of their mates. Levi found that kind of thing annoying- people who were really skilled didn't need to show off, they just did it. However, he also liked the emptiness because it gave him the chance to think and thinking was all he seemed to be doing lately, thanks to one stupidly pretty brat.

Levi groaned as an image of Eren swam before his eyes. Before, he had only thought of the brat as oddly innocent- this was the same boy who got excited over skimming a stone properly for fuck's sake. How was he supposed to know that underneath his skin, a sexy demon was lurking, ready to chew him up? He only had to remember how Eren's eyes had grown razor-sharp in focus when he had encouraged Levi to touch him, the smirk he had made when he realised the man was completely under his power, and Levi would feel his body twitching with want. It was like seeing two sides of a coin and he was enthralled with both the sweet and snarky side that played with his hair and listened to his complaints and the devilishly sexy side that pinned him down and took him apart just by rutting against him. Levi couldn't get enough of him and that was what he couldn't stop overthinking. Last night had been good, almost too good, better than any experience he had had before and that strangely was terrifying to him. He no longer wanted to have to hide what he felt for the brat, he didn't want them to have to tiptoe and sneak around just to see each other but he also knew that this would be impossible unless both of them left their packs and that was a thought that he never believed he would think again.

Eren's green eyes flashed in front of his again and Levi gave a huff. What was it about him that was making him want to turn his back on everything he had ever known? He hadn't always liked the Survey Corps true, his feelings towards his adopted pack were still oddly mixed, but they had still taken him in, given him a chance, even grown to respect him. The people who had long ago wanted to hurt him were now gone and they were the only pack he had ever really been part of- even when he had been with Farlan and Isabel, it had been clear that even though they were a group, they were still a band of outsiders. He had thought he never wanted to go back to that life, that insecurity of not having a safe place to live in, always living in fear of being caught but with Eren there, it felt like it wouldn't be too bad. He had lived happily with both his mother and then with Farlan and Isabel for years but he wondered if maybe he was looking back on those times with rose-tinted glasses. Maybe the softness and ease of life here was making the sharper edges of those memories fade, taking away the hardships he had once faced. He had never thought he would want to go back to that, back to living under threat again but with Eren by his side, he knew he would willingly walk through Hell and back.

He gave a dark chuckle at that. Funny, he thought. I thought I'd already done that. Does the Universe not want to give me any fucking peace or something?

He set the cup down firmly, causing a small tide of water to come slopping out of the edge and soak his fingers but he barely even registered it as he strode back across the room to the lone straw bag hanging there. He launched himself into another frenzied attack, throwing punches at it like he was back on the battlefield. It exhausted him sure, his body wasn't exactly the same as it had once been, but at least if he was exhausted he didn't have to think.

The bag once again wildly span through the air as Levi showed it no mercy. He gritted his teeth as more sweat trickled down his body, forming great salty droplets that ran down his torso like they were racing each other to be the first to soak the waistband of his trousers. His hair was thick with moisture and his throat was dry from heaving air into his lungs but he didn't let up. If he couldn't stop his mind wandering to those treasonous thoughts, then he would just have to beat them out of himself.

"Levi?"

Levi jumped and span round at the sudden voice, his fists instinctively going up to shield himself before he saw who it was and lowered them with a frown. "Oh, it's just you."

"Now, is that any way to greet someone?" Hanji shot him a wide grin as she sauntered over to him, her eyes scanning the room from behind her glasses. "Nice, you really have the emo thing going, don't you? Very dark and spooky."

"Did you come in here just to spout nonsense?" Levi asked sharply, turning back to the straw bag and giving it another swift punch. "Or are you here for an actual purpose?"

"Does there always have to be a purpose with you?" Hanji asked as she flopped down on the floor by the table with a sigh. "Why can't I just seek the pleasure of your company?"

"Because whenever you do, it's either because Erwin sent you or because you want to annoy me." Levi said, delivering another hard punch that echoed around the room. "So which is it?"

"You're being awfully short-tempered today," Hanji pondered, her eyes gleaming with something Levi could only describe as pure wickedness. "I mean even shorter than normal. It's a shame, you've been so happy these past few weeks."

"Are you back on that shit again?" Levi snapped crossly. "I keep telling you, just because I've been acting a little more tolerant recently doesn't mean there's been some big event in my life. Maybe I've just mellowed in my old age, alright?"

Hanji just snorted. "You expect me to believe that? You're hardly old Levi, you're nowhere near it." Her eyes flashed like a magpie who had just spotted something shiny and was about to leap on it. "Have you been feeling old lately? Has something made you feel that way?"

"What the hell Hanji?" Levi turned around to glare at her, ignoring her sudden expression of innocence. "Of course not, stop trying to get into my head with all your science shit."

"It's more like psychology really," Hanji grinned back at him. "And if I'm getting in your head, does it mean it's working?"

Levi just gave her a dark look and she burst out laughing. "Bless you Levi, you are so much fun."

Levi gave a long sigh. There really was no point trying to be mad at her, especially now when he was so exhausted. "Shouldn't you be somewhere forcing little brats to take their medicine?" He tried to ask snappily but his voice came out a lot less aggressively than he had planned as another image of Eren popped up in his head. Shit, he thought in a panic, I shouldn't have used that word…

He looked back at Hanji to see she was staring at him curiously. "Well?" He asked again, this time sounding more like his normal self and this time, she answered him.

"I would be, if I had anything to give them. I'm running out of supplies again and Erwin won't let me leave the camp to restock. It's ridiculous… I'm down to my last box of bandages and I've got lists the length of my arm of vital herbs I've run out of but I still can't leave to get more. I keep begging and pleading with Erwin to let me go out but he says it's better if we all stay inside the walls."

"That's just fucking stupid." Levi spat out as he reached over Hanji to take a drink of water. "This camp's going to run out of fucking everything and that bastard isn't going to do a thing. I've respected him for a long time but this is too fucking far."

Hanji nodded sagely. "I know. What gets me is that he's not telling us anything. The whole camp is tense and if us two were able to reassure them, it would go a long way but we can't because we don't know what is going on."

"It's not like we haven't told him that shit is going to hit the fan." Levi grumbled, taking a small sip of water. "We've been warning him for weeks but we're getting fuck all. I almost wonder how far he's going to take this."

Hanji started to manically giggle and Levi gave her an odd look. "What is it? Spit it out, will you? I don't have the patience today for you to be crazy."

"I'm sorry," Hanji spluttered out, continuing to giggle like a schoolgirl as she looked up at him. "It's just that… oh, you're so going to regret those words after what I tell you."

"What? What are you talking about?" Levi asked, already feeling a pinch of dread crawling up his spine.

"I came here because Erwin told me to tell you," Hanji said, a wide grin almost splitting her cheeks. "He's bringing in a new temporary rule; nobody is allowed to leave the walls of the camp unless they have his explicit permission. You have to have a written permit and everything just to take a step out of the walls- and that includes you Levi."

"What!?" Levi just stared at her for a long moment, like he was trying to assess whether she was pulling one of her pranks again, but when the face that met his was deadly serious, he growled. "he cannot be fucking serious!"

"I'm afraid he is." Hanji answered with a nonchalant air that only just hinted at how much she was enjoying this. "He's painfully so. He asked me to come and tell you because he was scared you would flip out at him."

"That piece of shit!" Levi exploded, throwing the cup of water across the room as he launched into an angry tirade. "Of course he knew I'd be angry, I've been telling him this is a bad idea for months and now he's being a fucking coward! And now he expects me to get written permission to escape for a bit of peace?! If it weren't for him, I wouldn't need to leave at all! And how is the rest of the camp going to take this?! We're already low on everything as it is! This is a shitshow just waiting to happen!"

"I agree." Hanji loudly mused as she curiously watched him. "But there's not much we can do about it."

Levi went silent for a few moments before his mouth set in a grim line and he suddenly turned to the door. "Maybe not but I'll be damned if he catches me right now and expects me to be cornered. I'm heading out, don't tell Erwin where I am."

"I'll just say I couldn't find you then." Hanji said but before she could finish her sentence, Levi had already grabbed his shirt, yanked it over his damp body and transformed into his wolf form. He shot a look back at her with his cold grey eyes before he gave a swift nod and stalked off, his tail twitching wildly like a cat's tail to show how angry he still was.

He was so angry that he didn't notice when a lynx snuck out of the training room behind him and followed him out of the gates, into the woods.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey Mikasa, is it OK if I talk to you for a minute? It's quite important."

Mikasa raised her head to look up at the blond standing in front of her table. They were the only people still in the canteen, the rest of the scouts having left almost an hour ago, and she was taking full advantage of the peace and quiet, letting the calm flood her as she did her work. The room felt strangely large without the swarm of hungry teenagers and the buzz of chatter and the evening light was slowly beginning to filter out, leaving the corners almost completely shrouded in darkness. There was still noise from outside but it was muted by the thick wooden walls and the smell of the potato stew they had had for dinner had mostly gone, though Mikasa still thought she could smell it if she focused hard enough. She was sitting at a table underneath one of the lamps so her entire space was bathed in light and the table was spread with sheets of paper. She had been asked by Commander Shadis to go over all her old scout reports for anything unusual and though she had already been at her task for the best part of forty minutes, she was still only halfway through. Grateful for the distraction, she waved for Armin to sit opposite her and she brushed her papers into a neat pile before she addressed him.

"Sure, it's OK. What do you want to talk to me about Armin?"

She noticed Armin looked oddly nervous, his fingers weaving in and out of each other as he tried to find the right words. "Armin?" She asked him concerned. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine." Armin said. "It's just that… I'm worried about Eren."

Mikasa just stared at him confused. "Eren?" She said, sounding almost like she had never heard the name before. "Why are you worried about him? I thought he's been doing OK recently… he hasn't been hurt or anything has he? If Jean's trying to wind him up again because of that stupid barn incident, I'm going to put him in tomorrow's stew…"

She made to stand up but Armin's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, holding her in place. "No, no, nothing like that," He said as she took her place again. "It's just… don't you think he's been acting weird lately?"

"How so?" Mikasa asked, her eyes narrowing a little. It had been a little over two weeks since the day when Eren had been chased around the camp by an angry dishevelled Jean in what the entire camp was now calling 'the barn incident.' Mikasa could remember having to pry the two apart after Eren had finally been caught and it was only after she had dragged them both by the ears and made them sit down at their table did she find out what had happened. Jean and Marco's relationship had then come out in the mess that followed and really, nobody had been surprised.

"Jean, Marco's had the hots for you since we were all rookies," Connie had casually explained to him in the canteen later that evening, when the young man had still looked ready to explode with anger. "It was only a matter of time before you both got together. Hey, if you two can shift into the same animal, does that mean you can do it in your animal form?"

"Connie, shut the fuck up!" had been his only answer from a very annoyed Jean, whilst Marco had hidden under the table in embarrassment. It had come out later that the pair had wanted to keep their relationship a secret until they felt ready to share it with their friends- only Eren had put a stop to that. Surprisingly, instead of constantly ribbing Jean about it and teasing the pair about the dirty talk he had overheard, Eren had been very supportive of their relationship, even going as far as to congratulate the pair after Jean had stopped trying to kill him.

"What?" He had said after Jean had lunged at him and was having to be held back by both Mikasa and Sasha. "I only said it was nice to see two people in love that are able to show it! Even if one of them is Horseface!"

Marco had been happy to hear he had Eren's approval but Jean had been a lot more petty about the whole thing. Still sore over the fact his nemesis had caught them, he now seemed to be spending a lot of his time trying to wind Eren up, just like he had before, only worse. His constant jibes and insults were a lot more frequent than before, he seemed to fire them off like bullets, but Eren maddingly refused to rise to the bait. Mikasa had to admit that his new attitude had surprised her- she could remember when her brother had been close to all-out war with Jean- but she was also really happy with it. Eren appeared to be finally growing up and losing his childish immaturities so she was curious and slightly worried to hear that Armin, her close friend that she trusted with everything, was worried about him.

"It's hard to explain so please just bear with me," Armin started to say, letting go off Mikasa's wrist and imploring her to stay with his eyes. When it became clear that Mikasa wasn't going to move, he began to speak, his voice a little hesitant. "It's something I've only just noticed but I think it's been happening for a while. Do you remember that night back in January when Eren fought with Jean and then stormed off?"

Mikasa gave a nod. "Yeah, he disappeared the whole night and worried me half to death. We searched the whole camp for him."

"And we didn't find him." Armin pointed out. "It was morning again when we next saw him and it was after that when he started behaving differently. Do you remember how suddenly he stopped talking about the outside world and going out of Maria territory? It was all he could talk about for ages and after that, we haven't heard him mention it in months."

Mikasa pressed her lips together in a light frown. "Maybe that night he realised it wasn't such a good idea," she said. "Maybe sleeping under the stars was what finally convinced him."

"I would think that too if it weren't for all the other things he started doing." Armin explained, his voice sounding a little steadier. "Do you remember how much he kept smiling after that night? I would have thought that after spending a night sleeping rough and then realising your dreams of leaving the territory and exploring were futile, you would be feeling at least disappointed if not angry… I know that's how I would feel. But he was really happy afterwards, I remember he barely stopped smiling all day… almost like everything he had thought had just been confirmed."

Mikasa jerked her head upwards, staring at him in shock. "You can't be saying that he…" Her voice trailed off as she couldn't bear to finish the thought and Armin had to say it for her.

"I think he did leave the camp that night Mikasa. And I think he enjoyed it too."

"But that can't be right!" She cried out. "If he had left and thought he had been proved right, why wouldn't he tell us? Surely, he would have tried to persuade us to go with him? We're his family, we don't keep things like this from each other."

"I know." Armin nodded in agreement. He had to admit that this was unusual; the three of them never usually kept secrets from each other, even if they were embarrassed or scared of them. "That's what makes me think there's something more to this than him just sneaking out for a bit of freedom."

"What makes you say that?" Mikasa asked him. She still looked calm, her face keeping a neutral expression but Armin could see the way she was clenching her fists, her grip so powerful it was turning her knuckles white. She was trying to keep herself together but he could tell this was a lot; Eren meant a great deal to both him and her and he know the thought of him putting himself in danger by deliberately running away from camp was very distressing. However, he also knew she wouldn't thank him for sparing any details- Mikasa liked to know everything before she went in for a mission and this was going to be no different.

"If it was just a matter of sneaking out each night, I think Eren would have stayed pretty much the same." He carried on. "He would have been happy but after a while he would have wanted more. He would have probably told us after a while and he would have mostly gone back to his old self. But that hasn't happened at all. Almost the opposite has happened instead; he's continued to keep it a secret from us, his happiness hasn't seemed to go down at all and he's changed a lot these past few months. He's fought a lot less with Jean, he's been acting a lot more cheerfully especially lately and he's been a lot more distracted. Do you remember that day with the barn incident when he spoke about what our leaders were planning? It struck me afterwards that that was the first time I had heard him mention it since that night in January when he tried to pick a fight with Jean in the canteen."

"You're right." Mikasa said, her eyes now wide as saucers. "Eren would have never let that go so easily, he's usually like a dog with a bone with these kinds of things." She tapped her fingers against her chin before she suddenly froze and looked up at Armin. "Armin, do you have any idea what he could be doing out there? What could be so big that he has to keep it from us?"

Armin bit at his lip. "I'm not too sure at the moment." He said, sounding anxious once again. "But I have one suspicion that I think you're really not going to like."

"What?" Mikasa asked. She was now getting increasingly worried for her brother; Armin voicing his suspicions had brought a tidal wave of memories to the front of her mind and she was furious with herself for not noticing the changes in Eren before. She felt like she had been blind these past few months, like a bandage had been covering her eyes to stop her from seeing and now it had been brutally ripped away to show her that the world was bleeding. She bowed her head, pressing her tightly-clasped knuckles to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe I just wanted to believe that he was better because I just wanted him to be, she thought sadly, the feeling of tears forming behind her eyelids and making them tingle. I wanted to think he was a changed man so I put my head in the sand and just refused to see it. And now he could be in serious danger and it's all my fault…

"Hey, hey Mikasa, please don't cry, it's not your fault." She suddenly felt a hand on the top of her hand, gently stroking through her cropped black locks whilst whispering soothingly. It was a comforting gesture that reminded her of her and Eren's mother- she had done the same thing in those early days when it had felt like the world was against her and wanted her to crumble and it was so reassuring and familiar, she wanted to cry all over again. "It's not your fault you didn't realise what was going on. It's my fault, I had my suspicions from day one but I didn't want to say anything because you're both my dearest friends and I didn't want anyone to get hurt…"

The two sat in silence for a short moment, Armin's hand still softly stroking Mikasa's hair. It took a while for Mikasa to feel strong enough to lift her head back up; it felt far too heavy with all the revelations she had had in the past few minutes but she eventually straightened her back and looked up at Armin, her lips curled into the smallest trace of a calming smile as she rubbed at her eyes. She was determined that there would be no more crying on her part tonight.

"It's OK Armin. I don't think either of us was really prepared to face this." She said before looking more serious. "Now tell me, what do you think Eren is getting up to when he sneaks out every night? And spare me no details, I've been hiding from the truth for far too long now."

Armin gave a firm nod before he started to speak. "When I first started to ponder why Eren was acting so strangely, I remembered that his random happy moods hadn't always been the same- they seemed to fluctuate, like he was reacting to things differently. The first few weeks he seemed happier and he wasn't rising to Jean as much- it felt like he was suddenly acting more maturely. But then on his birthday, he seemed a little different, not less happy per say, just more distant, like he felt like something was missing. Then just after his birthday, he bounced back and he was even more cheerful than before and it seemed like nothing could dent his mood. I couldn't remember ever seeing him like that, apart from when we were all kids. Then, a couple of weeks ago, around the time of the barn incident, he seemed to be walking on air. Do you remember how distracted he was when we were trying to look over my maps? Usually, he would have been so alert but that day all he did was stare up at the sky and he was grinning like an idiot."

"That is true," Mikasa pondered, her teeth tugging at her bottom lip as she tried to think. "He said he was just tired but he didn't look like it. I've seen him when he's tired and he's not like that. That's why I asked if he was sick, because he was acting a little weird."

"Yes, I thought that too." Armin agreed. "That's why I made him go and get the map from Jean, I wanted to discuss it with you then but that got interrupted because he found Jean and Marco…" He gave a small groan at the thought of the three of them running around like headless chickens and Mikasa just gave a little smile.

"That was a pretty big distraction." She said, giggling a little before she was suddenly hit with something and her mouth opened in a gasp as her fist slammed itself down on the table with a thud that echoed around the empty canteen. "Wait a minute! I just realised something!"

Armin almost jumped out of his seat when her fist hit the table and he scrambled upright quickly to try and regain his composure. "What?"

"Think back to when we all found out Jean and Marco were dating," Mikasa told him, her voice slow and level as her mind felt like it was whirring at a million miles a second. "Eren was the one who outed them basically and we all thought he was going to tease them to death over it. I certainly did anyway, even after months where the two of them had been more civil to each other. But instead, he seemed to be pleased for them, he seemed happy that the two were able to come out about it… what was it he said? 'it was nice to see two people in love that are able to show it?' Didn't that seem a little bitter? Like he wished he could have that?"

Armin's eyes went so wide, they looked like they would pop out of their sockets at any minute. "You think he's in love with someone?"

"That's the only thing I could think of." Mikasa told him. "What else could he have meant? And it would make sense for him to be suddenly happier- he would have been falling for someone and him getting happier could be because that person was returning his feelings." She then gave a frown as she surveyed his astonished face. "Why, is that not what you thought?"

"I had something else completely in my head." Armin admitted, suddenly looking uncomfortable again like he had when he had asked Mikasa to talk. "When I was thinking about Eren's sudden mood swings, I thought back to his birthday, when we were all talking under that tree. We were all talking and then he mentions that Levi guy. Do you remember the face he gave when you told him he was at the Last Stand? He looked like he was going to be sick. We kept talking afterwards but I could tell he was really angry, he was like a simmering pot about to boil over at any second. Then he just stalked off saying he needed to clear his head and once again, we didn't see him until the next morning when he was much happier. I was thinking about it wondering what could have made him so angry when I suddenly had a thought. Eren said that he had heard the name around camp but who would he have heard it from? All of our friends would know not to speak about the war and nobody would dare mention the name of the enemy leader, not even the oldest crones trying to stir trouble would dare say that for fear of getting in some serious shit. So I thought, he must have heard it from someone outside the camp- someone who wouldn't mind speaking his name because it's not a taboo."

"You mean…" Mikasa froze up again as she stared at Armin in horror. "A member of the Survey Corps?"

Armin regretfully nodded. "I think so. And if we combine our evidence together and our potential theories…"

"No!" Mikasa shrieked as she pounded her other fist on the table's surface and once again startled Armin. "He can't be in love with a member of the Survey Corps! After what they did to our pack, he would never do that! After what happened to our mother… he hates them more than the rest of us combined!"

"Mikasa, calm down!" Armin pleaded, looking around frantically in case anyone had walked in and heard her outburst. "We don't know if that's true yet, we could both be wrong and Eren could be fine. We just need to conclusively find out if he's sneaking out and if he is, where he's going and who he's meeting."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"We'll go and see him now, he should still be in his dorm," Armin explained. "It's nowhere near lights out so we should still have plenty of time. We'll act like we're going to bed but we'll hide outside and if he emerges, we'll follow him and see where he goes. It should be simple and then we'll finally find out what is up with him and if he is meeting anyone, though I'm sure he won't be meeting up with any members of the Survey Corps."

"He better not be." Mikasa snarled darkly, her voice going into a low growl like she was in her panther form. Her teeth were clenched so tightly, he could see her jaw was visibly shaking and her grey eyes held a murderous glare that made him gulp. "And if any of those bastards are taking advantage of him, they better start praying to God because he's the only one who's going to have any mercy on their soul."

OOO

Well that took longer than I expected, Eren huffed a little as he poked his head around the door of his dorm and scanned the outside for any signs of movement. I thought they were never going to leave. Seeing nobody there, he slowly opened the door and slipped through the gap before making a dash around the building and towards the camp walls. It was late and the sky was already beginning to darken; the long claws of the night had started to arch their way across the sky, stabbing at the pearly pink clouds and fending off the colours of the sunset and he cursed at the sight. He was going to be late and he hated to keep Levi waiting.

He quickly found himself at the walls and his eyes darted along the upright logs searching for his special key mark. He had wanted to be halfway to the lake by now but his plans to meet Levi had been quashed by the arrival of Armin and Mikasa. With the days growing longer and warmer, more of his friends and fellow young scouts had been spending their evenings outside and this had allowed him to start sneaking away before lights out as people just assumed he was somewhere else when they couldn't find him. He had sensed that Levi was already at the lake about an hour ago and he had been just about to head out when he had heard a knock on his dormitory door and opened it to find his best friend and his sister standing there. Though he was always pleased to see them, it had been slightly frustrating when they had invited themselves inside to hang out and he had found himself constantly glancing at the door in the hopes that they would soon go and he could leave. He could feel that Levi was waiting for him and he already knew the man would be both annoyed and worried about him. Still, he hadn't wanted the two of them to be suspicious of him so he had eagerly chatted with them until they had gone to go back to their own dorms, Mikasa throwing her arms around him before she left.

"Please be careful." She had murmured into his ear as she hugged him tightly like she was trying to keep him together. "I never want to see anyone or anything hurting you."

That was odd, he thought as he finally struck gold and his palm brushed over the familiar mark. She's overprotective sure, but she's not usually this cryptic. What on earth was she referring to? I haven't been in any danger for months. His mind dwelled on it for a moment but he quickly shoved it out of his mind as he pushed the log away and slid through into the outside world. He didn't want to focus on things like that- all he wanted from tonight was to see Levi.

He shifted into his wolf form and started to sprint away, pelting past the trees as he swerved his way through the forest. The feeling of the wind whipping through his fur and the sound of his paws thumping the ground below him had never lost its novelty, even after he had run this path over a hundred times and he couldn't help but grin and let his tongue loll out of his mouth as he ran. He was so absorbed in the excitement of running and the need to get to his destination that he never even suspected that he was being followed by a panther and a golden Labrador who were keeping their distance behind him.

He finally reached the lake as the sun started to dip below the horizon and he let out a happy cry when he saw the figure of his love leaning against the rocks. The older man had his usual bored look on his face as he stared out over the water but when he heard Eren and whipped his head around to see him running over, his expression immediately softened and he gave a smile.

"You took your goddamn time brat." He said, trying to sound cross but ending up sounding relieved as the large fluffy wolf came bounding over to him and started to lick his face. "Hey, stop slobbering all over me! You're making a mess!"

"What, you suddenly don't want my mess on your face now?" Eren said cockily, shifting back into his human form on Levi's lap and giving him a smirk. "You didn't seem to mind it two nights ago."

"Shut it brat." Levi snapped but there was too much shock in his voice for him to really sound angry and his wide eyes and pink cheeks betrayed his real emotions all too easily. "Since when did you get so fucking filthy with that mouth of yours?"

"Since meeting… you…" Eren said, his voice beginning to tremble as Levi angled his head and started to softly bite his neck. Eren's hands trembled and clung to Levi's shoulders as his teeth sunk into his flesh and when he felt his mouth harshly suck on one patch, his back arched and he gave a small cry. "Levi! No marks, you can't leave marks…"

"I know," Levi assured him, dragging the flat of his tongue over the spot to soothe it. "Though God knows I wish I could." Just the thought of being able to stake his claim all over Eren, leave him so covered with marks it would look like he had just been mauled by a tiger and people wouldn't dare to even touch him, made all his blood run south and, from the way Eren gasped and shuddered at his words, he could tell it was having the same effect on him.

"Yeah… I'd want them all over me," He whispered devilishly straight into Levi's ear, grinning as he ground down on his crotch. "I'd want there to be so many on my neck, people would think I was wearing a choker… I'd show them off in front of everyone and they would all know you put them there and that you're the only one who can…"

His mouth was suddenly stoppered by a harsh and bruising kiss to his lips and he was suddenly hoisted upwards and held closely to Levi's body as he stood up.

"You little tease," he heard the man growl as he bit at his bottom lip and started to walk away from the rocks. "You're going to regret getting me riled up like this."

Eren just gave a coy giggle as he cupped both of Levi's cheeks and kissed him deeply. He loved it when Levi got like this; even though the older man was the one who usually took the lead, he was constantly reminded of the power he had over him as it would only take a word from him for Levi to go almost insane, his hands and mouth grabbing at Eren like he couldn't get enough of him. It gave him a rush to feel Levi go crazy with his want for him and anticipation bubbled in his stomach as he gleefully awaited what was going to happen in that patch of wild flowers where he and Levi now found themselves every night. He gave his own growl as he felt Levi dug in his fingers and he once again whispered into his ear as he bit at his earlobe.

"Make me sorry then."

The two of them were so caught up in each other that they didn't notice two other animals sneaking out of the forest and onto the edges of the beach. The black panther looked around frantically for a second, grey eyes wide in panic as they momentarily lost sight of Eren, but the second she caught sight of him gathered up in a strange man's arms, her eyes narrowed into slits and she gave a low roar.

"What is he doing with Eren?!"

"I think we both know what he's doing with Eren." Armin replied, his eyes growing wide when he saw his friend nip at the stranger's ear. He had never even guessed that Eren would be into stuff like that and for a second, his legs felt rooted to the ground in shock. This must have been what Eren felt like when he saw Jean and Marco, he thought briefly, before he was distracted by Mikasa shifting into her human form and drawing her blades.

"That little piece of shit is going to wish he had never been born-"

"Mikasa wait!" Armin whispered harshly as he leapt forwards and grabbed her sleeve with his mouth, trying to drag her backwards with his tail flicking from side to side. "We can't just go barging in and kill him!"

"Why not?!" Mikasa snapped, shaking her arm to try and dislodge him.

"Because we don't have a clue what's going on!" Armin said, letting go for a brief second to shift into his human form so he could speak and hold her back at the same time. "We don't know a thing about this guy except that he's clearly romantically involved with Eren. Eren's going to be attached to this guy, do you really think he's going to listen to us and let us reason with him if you just run in and skewer him?" Mikasa lowered her blades; Armin did have a good point, they both needed Eren to listen to them. "And besides, do you really want to interrupt that?!"

A loud moan suddenly came from the undergrowth where the two had disappeared and Mikasa went visibly pale. Armin's face felt like it was on fire and his insides felt like shrivelling up with embarrassment but he stayed firmly holding on to Mikasa's arm. "Please Mikasa, we can't just go barging in like this. For Eren's sake."

Mikasa gave a loud huff but she slung her blades away and took a step back. "Alright." She sighed. "I won't skewer him… for now. If we don't get some good answers from him when they emerge, I'll rip him to pieces with my bare hands."

Armin rubbed at his temples with a sigh of his own. That wasn't quite the response he had wanted but at least Mikasa had agreed not to kill him on sight. Quietly, he led her behind some rocks and the two of them crouched there, peering over to stare at the empty expanse of beach and trying not to think too hard about what Eren was doing not too far away.

"He better have a good answer for this." Mikasa stated as she glared at the sand with such a heated look, Armin was surprised it hadn't melted into glass.

"Which one?" Armin joked, trying to relieve some of the tension he could see in Mikasa's rigid frame but he stopped when he saw the venom in her eyes.

"Both of them." She answered coldly. "If he's Survey Corps, I'm going to tear him apart and feed him to the gulls and Eren…" She gave a sound that sounded almost like a sob at the thought of her brother betraying them all and Armin could only silently rest his hand on her shoulder. "If he's really been disappearing here just to meet that bastard, I'll drag him back to camp and make sure he never leaves."

OOO

"Your hair is so soft." Eren mused out loud as he slowly curled his fingers into the tussled mop on top of Levi's head. "And right now, it's really fluffy."

"Well, whose fault is that?" Levi mumbled, his eyes closed as he lay on his back with his arms wrapped around Eren and his hands gently rubbing circles into the muscles of his back. "You're the one who always grabs at my hair."

"You're saying you don't like it?" Eren asked teasingly and when Levi didn't answer, he gave a cheeky smile and snuggled closer to his side. His head was level with Levi's but whilst the older man was stretched out on his back, Eren was lying on his side with his right arm sprawled out on Levi's chest and his right leg possessively hooked over his hips. His bare torso was half resting on the ground, half leaning against Levi's own bare chest and the pair of them were both only wearing their trousers, which they had pulled back on to escape the slight chill of the night. Both of them were exhausted after their long night of passion but neither of them could sleep, even as they lay tenderly in each other's embrace; it was like they could both sense the time passing and they didn't want to miss a single moment with each other as their time was so limited and precious.

Levi smiled when he felt Eren's hand start to play with his hair again, his fingers pressing into his scalp like he was giving him a head massage. It was so relaxing and so calm here in their own private world of wild flowers and each other that he could have fallen asleep but he refused to let himself. He heard Eren give a soft sigh and he opened his eyes the tiniest crack.

"What are you sighing about brat? Still got some energy left?"

"Shut up." Eren murmured into his shoulder before he looked up, saw Levi smirk and gave him a light slap. "Seriously? I thought old people were supposed to get tired after one round!"

"I think you'll find that we went for more than one round tonight," Levi smirked as he flicked at Eren's chest, his nail brushing the edge of one nipple and making Eren jolt a little. "And anyway, I'm not that old you little shit."

"I know Levi." Eren said, placating him with a soft kiss to his cheek. "You know I don't care how old you are. It makes no difference to me."

Levi hummed as Eren cuddled even closer and ran his arm up and down his side. He would never have admitted it out loud but their age gap had worried him a little at the start of their relationship. It had been one of the things holding him back and when Hanji had asked him about feeling old, it had struck a nerve. He had wondered if he would be able to keep up with Eren, whether the gap would be too great to survive their first infatuation, but Eren had long since smoothed over those worries. He frequently made it clear that his age was not a bother at all and he really didn't care.

"It doesn't matter how old you are," He had said one time when he had sensed Levi was feeling particularly anxious about it. "You're still you and I love you for that, I'm not going to stop just because of some stupid number."

That had been immensely reassuring for Levi and Eren had laughed when he sensed the sheer amount of relief he felt, dotting his face with kisses like he was proving he meant every word. Their ability to sense what the other was feeling and where they were had grown even stronger since they had confessed to each other and it had gotten to the point where Levi couldn't imagine living without it. It was a great comfort to them both to know that if the other was in trouble, they would be able to feel it, and if one was in any distress, the other could try and be there for them. Several times in the past two weeks when Levi had been in a bad mood, he had felt a wave of calm wash over him when he sensed Eren sending him happier vibes and the people around him had been stunned to see the sudden change overtake him.

Maybe they all think I'm going nuts, he had thought one time when he saw a bunch of younger soldiers staring at him curiously. He found it hard to care though- why would he when he was the happiest he had been in a long time? With Eren, it was easy to forget that the Survey Corps was in a mess and that their leader was close to lying to them all, here he could forget that he had once been a soldier in a bloody war. Here it was just him and Eren and really, that was all he needed.

Eren gave another sigh as his face curled into Levi's shoulder and he looked down at him with an eyebrow raised.

"You're sighing again Eren. What's up? Is there something bothering you?" He reached out a hand to stroke Eren's brown locks and he stiffened when Eren gave a low sound as he shifted his position. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, not at all." Eren was quick to reassure him. His body did feel a little sore from all their activity, especially in his lower back where Levi had close to bent him in half, but after two weeks of being his lover, the pain was nothing new to him. "I'm fine, I promise. It's just…" He gave another sigh as he angled his head, so his green eyes could look up into Levi's stormy grey ones. "Do you remember I told you about Jean and Marco? About how they started dating?"

"Yeah, I remember." Levi answered with a chuckle. "That story you told me was funny, though I don't know how they thought they could keep it a secret for that long if they were doing that kind of thing in the open. Someone would have come across them eventually…"

"I know, you've said all that." Eren giggled; he could remember Levi reciting that exact same speech when he had first told him about the barn incident and it still made him laugh to hear it. "What I was going to say was that I heard from Marco that he was going to ask Jean to be his mate- he said he had been scared to for a really long time and now their relationship was out in the open, he didn't want to waste any more time." His voice became more sombre as he once again dipped his head to stare at the white column of Levi's neck. "It just got me thinking and… I just wish we could have that, you know?"

Levi sighed himself at that, moving his arms so they were both tightly wrapped around Eren as he tipped his head back upwards. "I know Eren but it's just not possible," he stated. "If we became mates and created a firm bond between us, there would be a physical change in us and both our camps would sense it. Not only would we both have bonding marks that we would need to hide but our smell would change- people would sense the change in our scent and they would know we were mated. That would create a world of trouble for both of us and we can't afford to be discovered." He looked just as pained as Eren when he said the words but his voice was firm and unyielding; there would be no more discussion of this matter. "As much as I want to, we can't be mates Eren and that's it."

"But we practically already are." Eren pointed out. "We can feel each other's emotions like mated couples can… I've never heard of an unmated couple being able to do that before, have you?"

Levi shook his head. "Never. But that doesn't change anything about our situation."

"I know it doesn't!" Eren said, his voice frustrated. "But that doesn't stop me from wanting to!" He slumped further against Levi's side, his body now lying almost on top of the smaller man as he buried his face in his chest. "It just feels like the world wants us to be together, like it's fate or something. That first day at the lake, I had no clue where I was going but something led me there, straight to you. This bond we already have seems to confirm it, that we're supposed to be together, and I hate that we have to hide like this. It just feels wrong to pretend that there's nobody in my life when all I want to say is that I'm with you." He nuzzled at Levi's collarbone as Levi continued to stroke his hair, both of them feeling the same pang of regret. "What makes it worse is that everybody at camp keeps asking me when I'm going to find a mate. There's so much pressure now most of us are of age and it really sucks."

Levi's grip on Eren suddenly tensed at the thought of somebody else getting anywhere near Eren. "Has anybody tried anything?" He asked darkly and Eren had to chuckle at his switch in tone.

"No," he said, feeling how Levi's grip instantly relaxed. "I think my sister's protectiveness of me has scared away any potential suitors, nobody wants to mess with her and they know what she'd do to them if they ever hurt me." He gave a smile at the thought but it quickly changed into a frown as he continued to talk. "Still, after a while people are going to get suspicious. It's rare in our pack not to have selected a mate or to not have dated someone by the time you're 21 and if I'm still single by that point and I haven't shown any interest in dating, people might start asking questions."

"Is there any way they can force you to take a mate?" Levi asked him, already feeling his hackles rising at the thought. In his own pack, there were no set rules or expectations for people to take mates; it was the reason Levi had been allowed to live without one for so long, even though his situation was very unusual. However, he guessed the rules were very different in the Maria pack if it was expected that you would be mated by 21 and he was worried about what that could do.

"Not really." Eren replied, though he didn't sound too sure. "They can try to set me up with people and they can attempt to persuade me to mate but there's nothing they can do to force me. I'm still a little nervous about it though," he admitted. "I'm scared that people might start suspecting me if I go without dating for so long but I don't want to start a fake relationship with someone at camp, that would just be too cruel."

Levi saw him bite harshly at his lip as his worries started to fill his mind. He hated seeing Eren like this, his mind consumed with fear over their future, and to distract him, he bent down and pressed a long kiss to the corner of his mouth, drawing back only a short distance before Eren dragged him back to his lips. Their kiss was ragged and desperate, like the two of them could tell that they were on borrowed time, and when they broke apart for air, Levi was forcing himself not to get hard all over again.

"Don't worry about it, OK?" He told Eren, rubbing the pad of his thumb over his cheekbone. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, OK?"

"OK." Eren nodded back, turning his head to nuzzle into his palm. Levi gave a smile, glad to see Eren looked somewhat reassured, before he looked up at the sky to check the progress of the sun. The night was slowly beginning to fall into morning and he could see the sun was crawling its way upwards, chasing the night away like a pack of hounds. He gave a grunt as he went to sit up.

"Eren, we have to go, it's nearly morning and both our camps will be up soon. I don't want to get in Erwin's bad books again." He gave another grunt as he thought of his commander; it turns out Erwin had been very serious about the new rules over leaving the camp and he had been furious with Levi when he openly flouted them. The two had gotten into several heated fights over the past week alone and some of them had been so serious, Hanji had enlisted the help of other members of the camp to break it up. Now the pair were barely speaking and Levi was being twice as careful as before when he snuck out; the last thing he needed was more stress with Erwin.

"Don't want to." Eren pouted up at him when Levi stood up to retrieve his shirt, making grabby hands up at him. "Five more minutes?"

Levi rolled his eyes. "Eren, with you five more minutes always turns into one more round and neither of us have time for that." He picked up Eren's shirt as well and threw it over to him, chuckling when the younger man sulkily sat up to pull it over his head, his head deliberately turned away. "C'mon brat, don't give me that face."

"Fine." Eren grumbled as he stood up, pulling his shirt down to hide the expanse of tanned skin Levi loved so much. "But you better make it up to me later."

"Don't I always?" Levi smirked as he put his cape on and he heard Eren laugh from behind him. The two of them walked back to the beach hand in hand and when they reached the sands, Eren pulled Levi into a tight hug, burying his face in his hair.

"See you later."

"See you." Levi replied, his own arms clutching at Eren's body. The simple words didn't seem like enough to convey the sinking feeling he got whenever he had to leave Eren and he only hoped that his actions would be enough. He could feel Eren softly running his fingers over the short hairs at the back of his head and the gentle touches made him never want to move again. If the universe really wants us together, he thought a little bitterly, they're doing a fucking great job of showing it by making us leave each other every daybreak.

The sun was continuing to rise, despite his inner protests and he forced himself to try and untangle himself from Eren. However, just as he was about to take a step back, his ears caught the unmistakeable sound of a blade being drawn and a cold voice suddenly cut through the air.

"Who the fuck are you and what are you doing with my brother?"

 _Hehehe... I really like cliffhangers :)._

 _*goes to run*_


	10. Chapter 10

_Yay this story is back on the road!_

 _To everyone who was enjoying this fic, I'm really sorry I went on hiatus for such a long time. The last few months were really rough for me and I feel now like my life is only just now getting back on track. There have been a lot of bumps but the worst seems to be behind me now which I'm very thankful for. Honestly if it hadn't been for you guys and one very persistent reviewer (who I'm greatly indebted to) I don't think I would have come back to this story. However, I'm now writing the next chapter and I do want to get this finished._

 _Please enjoy this chapter and leave a review if you can- they really can save stories!_

Mikasa's voice cracked through the air like a whip and Eren felt like all the air around him had frozen solid. He stood there numbly, still holding on to Levi like the act of keeping him close would bring back the feelings of calm and peace he had felt only seconds ago. He felt Levi's fingers dig painfully into his back as he looked over his shoulder and the low growl he could feel vibrating in the man's throat made the realisation of what was going on hit him like a brick wall.

They had been found.

He was caught like a fly in a trap. And not only had he been found out of the territory with a member of the Survey Corps wrapped around him, the one who had discovered him like this was his own sister.

This is not going to go well, he thought as his heart pounded in his chest like a drum.

He felt more than heard Levi growling, his face in a snarl as he looked round Eren at the scene behind him. "Who the fuck are you two? And what are you doing in my pack's territory?"

Two? Eren thought, feeling his stomach churning with fear. Who else did Mikasa bring? Slowly pulling away from Levi, he turned around stiffly and his eyes went wide. Mikasa was boldly standing in the dead centre of the sickle-shaped beach, her stance wide and her body lowered as she pointed a blade directly at Levi, like she was daring either of them to try and escape past her. Her eyes followed the silver line of her weapon with a murderous glare, their colour as bright as the early light dancing off the blade and her face was so set in anger, Eren could almost feel the waves of it as it pulsed from her like an aura. She looked like she was ready to launch into battle and Eren knew if he hadn't been standing in front of his lover at that moment, she would have already sprung at him.

"We're here for our friend." Another more tentative voice spoke up and Eren turned his head to see that Armin was standing just a step behind his sister, his stance tense and prepared to jump between the siblings if he needed to. His face held an expression of fear and bewilderment at the standoff in front of him and his round blue eyes were darting between Mikasa and Levi like he wasn't sure who would strike first. When he spoke, his voice was calm and level but Eren could sense the wariness in each of his words as he was desperately trying to avoid a brawl. "Please, we don't want to fight. We just want to take Eren home."

"Speak for yourself Armin," Mikasa snarled like an angry big cat, opening her mouth and baring her teeth in a feral hiss. "If the old pervert thinks he can get away with luring members of other packs onto his territory without any repercussions, then he's going to get a fight whether he wants one or not." She growled again, a low feline sound that made Armin freeze up before he could try to dissuade her and made Eren's blood run cold. Mikasa never usually gave in to her old animal instincts and growled like that; normally when she attacked, she preferred to be silent and her habit of just glaring at anybody who did growl or snap at her like their animal counterpart was enough to unnerve anyone from messing with her. Eren had only heard her growl like a panther on a few occasions when she was really angry and hearing it now in every word she said made him realise just how serious a situation he was stuck in. "Eren, come here. Now."

"Mikasa, wait," he said. "I know this looks really bad but I can explain…"

"Eren, stand aside and get over here." Mikasa quickly cut over him, turning her attention away from a stony-faced Levi to glare at her brother. "I don't want to hear a word from you until we get back to camp."

"He's not going anywhere he doesn't want to go." Eren heard Levi growl behind him and his heart almost stopped when he heard the sound of more blades being drawn. Mikasa drew her body lower into a fighting stance and Levi scoffed. "Please," He snarled, his jaw snapping as he gave a wolf-like bark. "I've faced whole armies of men that were all bigger than you and still won. Do you really think I'm scared by one angry pup with a blade? You're the one who should be reconsidering this, not me."

"That's tough talk for an old man who messes around with pups," Mikasa snapped back, her fingers gripping her blade so hard, her knuckles were white. "You're nothing but a piece of scum. Now let me take my brother back to where he belongs and maybe, just maybe, I won't turn your insides into ribbons and hang them on every tree from here to the gates of your foul camp."

"Mikasa!" Eren cried out, finally finding his voice as Levi went to step around him and he threw his arm out to halt him. "Wait a minute, you need to listen to me-"

"Mikasa, this isn't what we agreed," Armin said in a low voice, his eyes pleading. "I told you, we need to talk to him, threatening isn't going to do any good. Please calm down…"

"Calm down?!" Mikasa close to shouted, still firmly facing Eren and determinedly not looking in Armin's direction. Her body stood rigid, still with her blades pointing at Levi and Eren gulped at the sight of the stars reflected in them. "My brother has deliberately snuck out of camp, deceived us both, broken all of our camp's rules by fornicating with a member of our enemy pack and you're telling me to calm down?!"

She gave a sniff and Eren could see the shine of tears forming in the corners of her steely eyes. He could tell this was breaking her heart, having to confront him like this, he could see it in every inch of her being and there was a big part of him that wanted to run to her and embrace her. He wanted to beg her forgiveness for deceiving both her and their dearest friend, he wanted to tell her how much he had hated the lying and the guilt of keeping this from her but he didn't dare move. He knew that if he moved out of Levi's way, Mikasa would fly at him and the last thing he wanted was for the two of the people he cared the most for to fight to the death over him. His only hope was to try and talk to her, make her see that Levi wasn't all she thought he was.

"Mikasa, please listen to me," He begged, watching as Armin stepped forwards to put a steadying hand on her shoulder. "I know this looks really bad but you have to let me explain. I know Levi is from the Survey Corps but that doesn't mean…"

"LEVI?!" Mikasa suddenly shrieked. "The Levi?! The one who led the charge against us at the Last Stand? The man who's killed so many from our pack, the man who was at the battle where Mum died?!" Her voice was so loud and so heartbroken, it was ripping at her throat and Eren could feel it pulling at his heart too but it also sent a stab of fear through him that was so strong, he could see Levi twitch at it from the corner of his eye. "That Levi?"

"Yes, that Levi." Eren tried to say calmly despite the fact his voice was shaking like a leaf in a violent storm. "I know what you're thinking but please, he's not like that. All those things, they are just stories…"

"Is that what he told you?" Mikasa spat at him, her eyes now ablaze with fury. "Did he tell you it was all stories just so he could get you into his bed?" She snarled lowly before she turned her burning gaze back to Levi, who Eren could feel was bracing himself for an attack. "How many lies exactly did you have to tell him before your hands were wiped clean of blood? I can't imagine there were any less than a few thousand."

Levi bristled and Eren stiffened his arms to stop him getting past. "I've told Eren the truth about my past and my pack." He said coldly. "I wonder if you could say the same thing."

The following chain of events that was sparked by Levi's words happened so quickly, they seemed to pass in a blur. Mikasa gave a cry and lunged forwards, pushing Armin out of the way as she did so. Levi snarled and transformed into a wolf, baring his teeth and arching his body to attack. Eren saw the whole thing flashing before his eyes, felt his panic and Levi's determination swim through him like the most crushing force he had ever felt. He could already see how this battle would end before either of the others. The two of them were the most skilled soldiers he had ever seen and both of them would refuse to give in, both thinking they were fighting for his sake.

They're going to tear each over to pieces, he thought, and then no one is going to win.

I have to stop them.

I have to stop them now!

Those were the last words he remembered thinking before he lunged forwards and threw his body into the slender gap that the two had yet to close, plugging himself into it before they could reach each other. He saw only flashes of their reactions; he was turned away from Mikasa so he didn't see her face but he heard her surprised cry and he saw Levi's face when he realised what Eren was doing. He saw those moon-like grey eyes go wide, their colour vivid against the surrounding black of his fur, and he saw his jaws, previously baring teeth, now drop in horror as he tried to stop himself.

"Eren no!"

That was the last thing he heard before a sudden stinging pain cut deep into the back of his neck and he gave a loud scream. His body slammed hard into the sand and the pain echoed through his body but the worst pain was at his nape. His whole neck felt like it was burning, like his head would be severed at any moment and when he reached back to hold it, his hands came back blood red. He was only just aware of all the blood that was pouring from his neck and as precious seconds went by, he could feel himself losing consciousness. Every sensation he had was getting fainter and he was only just able to feel a pair of strong hands hoisting him upwards and a pair of lips dotting his face with light desperate kisses.

"Eren, you bloody idiot, what were you thinking? Please Eren, you need to focus, you can't go to sleep now, you can't leave me here, please Eren…"

He was faintly aware of Mikasa screaming and Armin shouting something at her and Levi but he couldn't quite recall what. All he could keep clear in his head were the worried frantic pair of eyes that were staring down at his, soulful and steady.

You really are like the moon Levi, was Eren's last thought before his eyes closed and everything went dark.

OOO

When Eren opened his eyes again, the first thing he registered was the feeling of sand underneath his fingers. I must still be at the beach, he thought, his head pounding with a dull ache he couldn't quite place. I must still be with Levi… is it still night time? He looked up at the dim glimmers of the fading stars and let out a sigh of relief. Good, it is still night, just, he thought. No one at camp will be missing me yet. Nobody is going to find out.

It was only then when he registered the voices that were talking animatedly over his still body.

"So, did they work? Did the herbs work?"

"I'm not sure yet, they may take a while. I managed to stem the bleeding and it hasn't started swelling which is a good sign but I can't be sure."

"Then why can't you just add more?"

"Because it doesn't work like that, you silly girl. You have to have patience with these things, I have a good friend who told me that. Thank Christ you've never been on a proper battlefield, you have no sense of timing whatsoever…"

"Oh and you'd know a lot about battlefields, wouldn't you? You piece of murdering swine…"

"I'm not the one who nearly sliced her brother's head off!"

"I would never have done that if you hadn't-"

"Can both of you please stop arguing? I'm trying to save Eren's life here and I can't do that if both of you are fighting over him!"

Eren furred his brow in confusion. "Mikasa? Armin?" He said out loud, his voice sounding tired and groggy to his own ears. "Guys, what are you doing here…" His voice trailed off as all of the images from the rest of the night suddenly came back to him and he would have jerked upright if a bolt of pain hadn't shot through the nape of his neck. "Owww…"

"Eren!" Before he could register anything else, Eren found himself engulfed in a large hug that knocked all the air out of his lungs and nearly made him cry out. "Oh thank god you're alright, you've been unconscious for nearly three hours, I was worried sick…"

"Mikasa, give him some space," Armin said softly, his hand reaching out to gently prise Mikasa away. "He's only just woken up, he's probably still sore."

Mikasa, grudgingly heeding Armin's words, untangled herself from Eren and stepped back, a blatant look of worry still on her face as Armin carefully tended to the back of Eren's neck. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine guys." Eren replied, giving her a warm smile to try and reassure her. "My neck still hurts but I promise you I'm fine."

"Thank fuck for that." Another quiet voice said with a sharp relief and Eren's eyes darted left to see that Levi was sitting on his other side, surprisingly only a few short paces from his sister. His face looked wearier than he had ever seen it, even when he had been talking about his war experiences, but when his grey eyes met Eren's, they finally seemed to be satisfied that he was OK and they lit up in such a way that Eren wanted to pull him in for a kiss. However, he restrained himself, mainly because Armin was still carefully examining his neck but also because he wasn't sure how his sister would react. The two of them were seemingly being civil now but they were still refusing to look at each other and him kissing Levi might push Mikasa over the edge. "You really had me worried."

Eren gave a chuckle. "Sorry about that. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't intend for my neck to get sliced open."

"You better not have done." Levi said sternly but there was a wry smile teasing at his lips as he spoke. "You told me the others at camp thought you were a suicidal bastard but I never thought you would really throw yourself in front of a blade like that. If you really wanted to get hurt, I could have helped you with that."

"I know you could have." Eren answered, laughing a little at the joke. "But I did it for you." He reached out for Levi's hand and watched as the man grabbed at him and squeezed it tight, the relief finally pouring over both of them like a waterfall through their shared bond. "I couldn't bear seeing you hurt. Either of you." With his other hand, he leant towards Mikasa, trying to take her hand but she quickly pulled it away, shuffling her body backwards towards the waters of the lake. "Mikasa, please, I really didn't want any of this…"

"I know you didn't Eren." Mikasa cut over him, her voice soft but pained. It was only then when Eren realised she had tears in her eyes again and that the hurt from before was still there, only worse. Before there had been anger and rage to cover it up but now it was laid bare in her expression and she wasn't even trying to hide it. "I know you didn't intend for all this to happen but I'm still hurt. Why didn't you tell me and Armin any of this? Why did you keep this a secret for so long? Why did you insist on putting yourself in so much danger every night, coming out here and leaving our territory? And out of all the people you could have met…" She paused for a minute to look over at Levi and for a brief second, the same venom she had felt before flashed in her eyes again. "Why did it have to be him? After all he's done?"

"I didn't intend for all that to happen." Eren pleaded, letting go of Levi's hand to try and move towards her but the movement was too painful and Armin quickly rooted him in place. "When I first snuck out, I just wanted to feel free for the first time, I never meant to wander off and find this place. Stumbling across here and meeting Levi… it was all a big accident, I wasn't trying to betray our pack or anything like that, it just happened but honestly, I'm really glad it did. I wanted to tell you, I wanted to tell you both, but I knew you would disapprove of me sneaking out and meeting a member of the Survey Corps and then when I found out about his past and more things happened, it all just got too complicated… I messed up, I know I did, I should have told you earlier but I promise you Mikasa, he's not all bad. Not everything you've heard about him is true."

"So, he didn't lead the charge against our pack?" Mikasa spat back and Eren fell silent. "He hasn't killed numerous people and left others to die on the battlefield? He wasn't there at the battle where our mother died?"

"Don't bring her into this! He had nothing to do with that!" Eren snapped, sudden rage coursing through his body like someone had poured it into him. "There were hundreds on the battlefield where she died, are you going to blame every single one of them for her death?"

"Don't try and twist this Eren!" Mikasa snapped back. "Are you telling me you weren't angry when you found out what he was? I can remember you asking us two about him so you clearly didn't know what he had done. Are you telling me you weren't angry with him after that?"

"Of course I was!" Eren said and his honestly seemed to shock Mikasa into silence. "I was really mad at him, so mad I actually attacked him, I had him by the throat against those rocks there. But then he explained to me what happened and what the Survey Corps did… he isn't one of them, at least not really. They took him in because he was a good soldier. Originally, he was an outcast, someone who didn't have a pack because he lost them… a little like you Mikasa."

He watched as Mikasa's face softened a little, the harsh lines of her anger fading a little as she processed the information. He reached for something of Levi's to hold, anything to keep him steady, but then nearly jumped when he felt a thin calloused hand slip into his own.

"It's OK brat," Levi's voice whispered and Eren suddenly felt a wave of calm pass over him. "I won't let things get out of hand. If she attacks me, I won't hurt her, she is your sister."

"I'm not going to attack you." Mikasa said suddenly, nearly causing both men to jump. "If I did, Eren would probably jump in the way again and I am not reliving the past few hours for anything." Levi and Armin both gave a snort at that and Mikasa gave a small smile as Eren frowned at them both before giving a deep sigh. "Listen… I'm not going to say that I understand what's going on here because I really don't. You're still the man who led the charge against my pack at the battle where my mother died and I don't know if I'll ever be able to forget that. But for some reason, my brother has fallen for you. I can see it in those damn eyes of his, he really loves you."

"Mikasa…!" Eren whined, feeling his face heat up at the mention of the word love. He heard Armin chuckle behind him and he didn't dare turn his head sideways to look at Levi but he felt the older man lightly squeeze his hand and that made him give a tiny smile.

"Sorry Eren but it is painted all over your face." Mikasa shrugged with a smug smile that quickly went serious again. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I'm not sure I'll ever understand this but I will try, if only for your sake Eren. The only thing I want is for my brother to be happy and if that means tolerating you, then I guess I'll have to get used to it. However, for that I need to know exactly what happened and how you two came to this point. I think honestly after all the lying you've done, you could at least give me that."

Eren gave a nod. His sister was right; he had told her and Armin a lot of lies over the past few months and for them to ever step forwards, he needed to come clean. He squeezed Levi's hand in an unspoken question. For Mikasa to be satisfied, he knew Levi would have to open up about his past, something he had previously only told Eren and he wanted to make sure he was alright with that. Thankfully, he felt Levi squeeze back assuredly and he gave a deep breath.

"Right, it all started back on that day we argued and I stormed out of the canteen…"


	11. Chapter 11

_So university work has been kicking my butt again... that's why this chapter took a while and I'm sorry for that but I am trying to write as much as possible, especially as I'm very excited for the next part in this story! Please enjoy it and review if you can, every single one is encouraging!_

"And so, here we are."

"Wow." Armin said, staring at Eren with wide eyes. He had finished tending to Eren's neck a long while before but had stayed sitting obediently behind him as he listened to both Eren and Levi's accounts of how they had first met. He had listened so quietly that Eren had half-forgotten he was there and he nearly jumped when Armin's voice came from directly behind his ear. "I can't believe you guys kept this secret for so long. Usually Eren can't keep anything quiet, especially if it's related to his feelings."

"I'm not that bad!" Eren quickly shot to his own defence as Mikasa and Armin shared a knowing look. "Really, I'm not!"

"I hate to tell you this Eren but you really are." Mikasa told him frankly, uncrossing her legs and letting her body relax more into the sand. Throughout Eren's long tale of constantly sneaking out and getting himself in trouble her body had been so tense and still, she almost looked like a statue with her legs crossed and her face set in a concentrated expression that Eren wasn't sure was good or bad. However, now that she knew all of the facts, including the ones about Levi's backstory and his relationship with the Survey Corps, she did seem much calmer and Eren felt like he could breathe properly again, knowing that she wasn't going to try and attack Levi again. "When we were little, everybody could tell when you were lying because your ears would go red and your face would scrunch up like you couldn't physically keep the truth in. Even now, we have to get you to shut up when you go on a rant about the war; if we hadn't, you would have been court-martialled to within an inch of your life."

"Now why don't I find that hard to imagine?" Levi said dryly, making Mikasa and Armin scoff and Eren turn to him with a gaping mouth.

"Why are you taking their side?" He said with a stroppy pout. "You can't all gang up on me!"

"I'm not ganging up with them, I'm only stating the truth," Levi said, again with a wry smile that Eren knew couldn't be good for him. "And the truth is, you can be a gobby little shithead."

"Hmfph." Eren huffed, lifting his knees up so he could rest his head and hands on them and deliberately look away from Levi. "I can't believe you would betray me like this."

"Oh shut up." Levi huffed but even though he was trying to look severe, the fond look in his eyes was all too obvious. It made Mikasa give a little smile; all she had ever wanted was for someone to look at her brother in that way, like he was the only person in the world who mattered. She just never expected it to be someone like… him.

"The situation in your pack sounds really strange though," she said, frowning as she stroked at her chin. "I mean, you're not allowed to leave without permission despite everything running out… I'm surprised there hasn't been a rebellion."

"You're telling me." Levi sighed gruffly. "Erwin's an old friend of mine but I think even I'm at breaking point with him. The problem is, he's so well-respected in our pack because of what he did for us in the war. He was one of the main players in the peace agreement and because of that, he's treated almost as untouchable. There's no way anybody would be able to get rid of him."

"Not even you?" Armin asked and Levi shook his head.

"Definitely not me. Erwin is the respected leader there; I'm just the butcher's boy."

"I see." Armin replied. "So, do you have any idea what Erwin is planning? It sounds pretty big."

Levi sighed. "Believe me, if I knew I think I would be more supportive. The fact that he's keeping it as this big secret really worries me because that means it will probably be an unpopular decision he wants to make. This is what he does when he wants something to go his own way; he won't tell anyone about it until he's gathered all the evidence and planned it out and only then will he say something. He'll give this big grand speech about what he's going to do and by the end of it, everyone in the pack will be eating out of his hand and declaring that it's the best idea they've ever heard." He grimaced. "That's probably why he's getting so annoyed with me and Hanji, he knows we won't be fooled so easily."

"Right." Armin said. "The thing is I find it strange that whilst your camp is keeping everybody locked up almost, ours has been sending us out on longer and longer scouting missions. I mean, us three have been sent out to the edges of our territory more times than I can count recently and they've been having us go over old maps too…"

"Plus the only groups they have been sending out have been scout groups." Eren pointed out, sitting up a little straighter and trying not to wince when the movement twinged his neck. "The hunters have barely been out at all and I can't remember the last time we actually had a fresh kill."

"And we would have known about it because Sasha would have been ecstatic." Mikasa agreed. "When you piece all that together, it does begin to look rather odd. What do you think it means Armin?"

Armin gave her a worried look. "I don't know but the fact that both packs are doing it at the same time is a little concerning. It's almost like they are both preparing for something, something big."

"You mean something like restarting the war between our packs?" Eren said, sounding a little smug. "The thing I've been talking about for ages but that you always said was ridiculous?"

"You know the reason why we shut you up about that!" Mikasa snapped at him. "We made you stop talking about it because you always seemed to insist on shouting your views in public where everyone could hear and threatening to get us all in serious trouble!"

"Hence why you're a gobby shithead." Levi added in helpfully. "Seriously Eren, your sister is right, you shouldn't be mouthing off about this stuff. It's only going to get you in trouble."

"So I should just sit there all compliant and let those in charge do whatever they damn well please?" Eren spat back angrily, his cheeks going a deep red in his passion. "Those arseholes were the only reason we got into that war in the first place and thousands of people died because of their incompetence and stupid hatred. We had our family torn apart by it, everyone in both our packs has lost someone thanks to that war and you seriously expect me not to voice my opinion when our leaders insist on trying to drag us back into it? Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Eren!" Mikasa snapped at him once again. "Has your brain not processed anything we've just said?! Of course we're angry about this, of course we don't want to charge into another war but acting like an idiot and shouting about it is only going to get us killed! We don't even know what's going on, you can't jump to anything until we know for sure! If you want us to take you seriously, stop acting like a baby having a tantrum and grow up!"

The two fell into a sullen silence, glaring at each other with eyes like poison, until Armin timidly raised his voice. "I think what we need to do is wait and think of a proper plan. Both of you are right; we're not going to stand for another war but Eren, Mikasa is right, we can't do anything unless we have evidence to back us up. If we don't, our pack leaders are just going to dismiss us as troublemakers and rebels and we'll all probably be executed. We need to be very careful before we reveal this to our pack- so far, we only know that this Erwin is up to something but right now, we don't know what."

"I agree with the blond kid." Levi spoke up, suppressing the urge to smile when he saw Mikasa's eyes widen at his words. "If you go to your pack now and tell them this, the only thing backing your story is the account of the man who led the charge against your pack at the most infamous battle in recent memory. They all hate me, they're not going to trust me and by default, they won't trust you." Eren frowned and went to open his mouth but Levi quickly hushed him with a glare. "It's sweet of you to try and argue against me Eren but we know it's all true. If you say you believe me, your whole pack, all your friends and everyone, will believe I've brainwashed you three and then that will make you a threat. We need to find out exactly what Erwin's plan is and we need to find out soon. Erwin can sense the pack is getting restless, we all know he's going to have to move soon or else he really will have a revolution on his hands."

"What can you do?" Armin asked, his voice now sounding more determined. "Is there any way you can figure out what he wants to do?"

Levi grimaced. "I've been trying to figure that out for months but he won't tell me anything. Still, I can keep on trying- I know I've been riling him up these past few days by continuing to sneak out of camp and with everything that's been happening, he knows he'll need me on his side to convince the camp to follow him. He'll have to tell me something soon, I can feel it."

"I hope you're right." Armin sighed and the group fell quiet for a long moment as they contemplated just what they had all fallen into. Levi felt Eren reach for his hand again, fear trickling across the bond they had formed and dripping straight into his heart. He reached for his fingers and clutched them tightly. The last thing he wanted to do was send the man he loved straight into danger.

"Guys, it's nearly dawn." Mikasa suddenly broke the silence as she looked over at the horizon. Over the lake, a hazy lilac sun was rising out of the fog and the darkness around them was slowly beginning to ebb. "We have to get back, now. Levi, do you think you could get us anything certain by tonight?"

"Maybe." Levi answered her, firmly looking her in the eyes. "I'll do my damnest at any rate. I'll return here tonight and if I have anything, I'll tell you. If not, we'll have to think of something else to try."

Eren nodded. "I'll come tonight by myself."

"What?!" Mikasa jerked her head back sharply with a harsh glare but Eren stared her down long enough to deliver his response.

"Look, it's less suspicious that way. By now, everyone is used to not seeing me at night and, since nobody has ever questioned me about it, I presume that they now think it is normal and that I'm off sulking or something. However, if all three of us start disappearing, people will notice and that's going to look suspicious. We don't want people to know what we're doing, isn't that the point? People will think we're planning a revolt if they notice us all missing and then what will we do? I have to come here alone."

Mikasa pursed her lips. She looked less than impressed at the idea of Eren once again coming down to the lake to meet Levi alone but she couldn't deny the points in his argument. She sighed. "Fine. But if you two spend the whole time messing around and don't end up doing any actual talking, I will personally throw you both in this lake to cool you off."

"OK, OK, we get it." Eren said, shakily trying to stand up and nearly falling over as his legs crumbled under the pain. "OW!"

"Be careful brat!" Levi dived and just managed to scoop Eren up before he hit the ground, using his strength to pull the taller man upright. As Eren heavily leant on him and groaned at the pain in his neck, he soothed him by brushing his hair back and holding him tight against him but he found that he was almost shaking. When Eren had fallen, he had felt a shot of pain go through his own body and it had been so strong, it had felt like he had been stabbed straight through with a blade. Even now, there was a fading niggle of pain that was centred at the back of his neck and the feeling honestly scared him a little. It seemed like his and Eren's bond was getting stronger and even more intense than before and he couldn't understand it. He knew of bonds between mates, he had seen them time and time again at his camp, but he had never heard of one forming between an unmated pair nor seen one this strong. He could sense that Eren felt his fear and a wave of concern was sent his way but he briskly ignored it and went to walk Eren to his sister. "Eren, you need to be more careful with that neck of yours. If it gets too much, send your sister or your friend out tonight, OK? I'm not having you damage yourself more over this. Promise?"

"OK I promise." Eren replied as Mikasa took his arm and put it over her shoulder. He looked sincere but everyone around him knew that he would still attempt to go and see him, even if he was at death's door.

"Right, let's get moving." Mikasa said as she transformed into her panther form and let Eren lay comfortably along her back with his arms around her neck. "Try your hardest today Levi; the fate of both our packs depends on it."

"I will, don't worry about that." Levi said, watching as Armin transformed into his animal form and the two went sprinting towards the forest. He kept watching as Eren's figure clung tightly to Mikasa's rolling body like a baby bat to its mother, desperately trying not to fall off as he looked back at Levi with a tiny wave and a faint smile. Levi gave a low sigh as a little bit of Eren's giddy hope entered his heart and spread through him, warming his nerves and making him feel a little less defeated.

"Please be safe, you dolt."

OOO

It didn't take long for Levi to get back to the Survey Corps camp but by the time he walked through the gates in his wolf form, daylight had fully broken over the camp. Golden sunshine heralded that spring was in full flow and all around him bright flowers were blooming in random patches around the camp, like even nature itself was telling the inhabitants of the camp to cheer up a little. It was still very early and to his relief, it seemed like most of the camp was still asleep. Nothing seemed to be stirring as he made his way towards the main buildings and as he walked, Levi allowed himself a long breath of relief.

It seemed like things were going his way at last until he heard a familiar voice come booming from his left.

"Where were you just now Levi?"

Levi stopped in his tracks and gave a low growl as he slowly turned to his left, raising himself up on his hindlegs and switching back into a human as he did so. Standing there with two of his largest guards he could find either side of him, Erwin was glaring with the most thunderous eyes Levi had ever seen on the man. His arms were tensely crossed and he almost appeared to be fighting with them, like he was preventing himself from lunging forwards and wrapping his hands around Levi's neck, and there was a throbbing angry red vein in his neck that looked close to exploding. He looked so enraged that Levi almost took a step back. Usually the large blond man was more mild-mannered than this but at that moment, he looked like he wanted to murder Levi with his bare hands.

"Well?" He asked again, his voice bristling with rage as both bodyguards snarled. "I'll ask you again Levi; where were you just now?"

"Out." Levi cuttingly replied, his eyes narrowed down to silver slits. "I was out."

"Where? And with who?" Erwin questioned him further in the same angry tone. When Levi didn't answer, his scowl grew more set and Levi could see his fingers twitching as they rested on his muscle-bound arms. "I know you've been constantly sneaking out against my orders Levi. You know that you can't leave the camp without my express permission and yet you insist on flouting the rules and going wherever you please. You can't keep doing this, it's not safe and you're not protected."

"I can protect myself fine thanks, you know that as well as anyone." Levi responded, feeling his own anger rising at his leader's seemingly calm speech. "And since when has anyone needed protection on our own lands? I've never strayed off our territory since the war ended and I've never needed to be protected before so how about you stop bullshitting me and tell me why you really don't want me out there Erwin."

He watched as Erwin's face seemed to swell up with barely contained words of anger before he subsided like the belching pouch of a bullfrog. "You know why I can't tell you that Levi-"

"Actually, no I don't know why you can't tell me!" Levi snapped over him. His interruption caused both of Erwin's guards to stare at him in shock but the man himself was unmoving. "You keep acting like this, like you know something massive that we don't, and honestly, it's driving us all a little crazy here! You think that you can keep the whole pack couped up here like chickens but you can't! I refuse to be locked up here waiting for you to finally tell me what's happening in that dumb head of yours! If I want to go out into my pack's territory, I damn well will! And what I do out there is nothing to do with you!"

There was a long tense silence where all Levi could hear was the rasping sound of his own panting and the thud of his heartbeat ringing in his ears. Erwin was still staring at him with his eyes a dark stormy blue and he suddenly couldn't take being under their gaze any more.

"Go to hell asshole." He spat out before turning his back on his pack leader and, with a swish of his green cape, he stalked away. For a moment, Erwin's guards just stared after him, their mouths open in astonishment. How could he speak to their leader like that? Levi was almost across the courtyard when they both finally came to their senses and went to take action but before they could take a step to go after him, Erwin threw out an arm and halted them.

"Don't go after him." He said, his voice slow as he calculated his next move. "We have all we need from him now." His scowl hardened slightly when he watched Levi disappear around a corner and out of sight but then he turned to the main gate and gave something that could have been a smile if it hadn't been so sinister. "I want you two to follow his scent and find out where he's been all night. Once you find it, wait there. If my suspicions are correct, someone will be there by nightfall looking for him; I want you to bring them directly to me. I don't care what you have to do, just get them here. I only ask one thing."

"What's that Sir?"

"That they be alive."

OOO

For Eren, that night couldn't have come quick enough. He and his companions had spent the days completing more menial tasks, once again going through Armin's maps and clearing out several of the old outbuildings where the pack leaders still held a lot of the pack's old military plans. Everyone in their group had been put to the task and nobody had been happy about it. Jean had been the loudest moaner and despite all of Marco's best efforts, nothing had been enough to get him to shut up.

"Why the hell are we doing this? This has got to be the most pointless task in history! Nobody has looked at any of these old dusty papers for years! We should be burning these old eyesores down, not rooting through them like damn pigs!"

"And of course, you would know what that feels like Jean." Somebody had shouted from the back, causing a ripple of laughter among the crowd and making a red-faced Jean lower his head and start furiously sorting through the piles of yellowed paper. Several people had looked over at Eren during various points in the day but even when Jean was at his worst, he didn't say a word. He kept his head down and sorted through the mountains of scribbled plans like his life depended on it. There was only one thought that was running through his head, over and over like a ticking of a clock; the quicker I get this done, the quicker I can go and see Levi.

The hours crept by like snails and it was only made worse by the fact he could feel a strange simmering anger constantly humming in his gut. It made him feel very uneasy as he knew exactly what it meant; Levi was absolutely furious and that couldn't be good. It felt like he had swallowed a hot coal and what made it worse was that throughout the whole day, it didn't seem to fade, no matter how many calming emotions he tried to send out. His own feelings made it even more difficult as he wasn't feeling calm himself. His whole body felt on edge as they sorted through the old war plans as it made his suspicions feel all the more real. Before they had only been theories, thoughts that he had been forbidden to speak, but now the proof that he had been right all along was tangibly in his hands and there was a large part of him that was terrified by it. What other use could their leaders have for these old war plans than to start the war again? He thought as his friends bickered around him and he felt so frustrated, he wanted to transform into his wolf form and tear it all to pieces. How are they not seeing this? He thought. How can they not realise the danger? Still, he said nothing. He knew the trouble he could get into if anyone snitched on him and that was the last thing their group needed, plus he was sure that if he started ranting about this horrible state of affairs, he wouldn't have been able to stop.

He was relieved when dinnertime eventually came around and their group was called into the canteen. He ate his meal in almost silence, he, Armin and Mikasa gulping their meals down too quickly to talk as they all wanted to escape as quickly as possible. When they had all finished, they all walked down to their dormitories, even though they all knew only two of them would be going in.

"You will be safe, won't you?" Mikasa asked, her voice hesitant with worry.

Eren gave her a smile as he placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "I'll be fine, I promise." He said before adding cheekily. "I have done this before you know."

"Don't remind me." Mikasa gave a sigh and pushed him away but she still looked worried. "Just promise me one thing. When you get back, come straight to us. I don't care how early it is or if we're asleep, come and see us so we know you're OK."

"I might care how early it is." Armin said but with a fond smile on his face. "Be safe, alright? Don't do anything reckless."

"Since when have I ever done that?" Eren replied, quickly transforming into his wolf form as the other two rolled their eyes. "I'll see you both later. Hopefully I'll have some better news to deliver."

"I hope so too." Mikasa answered, her eyes still brimming with concern but she managed to keep a brave face on. "Good luck and please stay safe."

Eren gave a firm nod before he turned away from his sister and friend and bolted towards the wall. It took him almost no time at all to slip out through his normal gap in the wall and before long, he was running at full pelt through the forest, his heart skipping with every step he took towards the lake. As his own excitement grew, he could feel the tight hot coal of anger inside him beginning to lessen and that served to raise his mood even higher. He was going to go and see Levi, they were both finally going to be able to do something about their packs and the sheer happiness he felt was so powerful, he was almost surprised he couldn't taste it on his tongue.

When he reached the lake a few moment later, darkness had fallen and the whole of the lake was still. He walked along the beach, his joy slightly dimmed a little by the strange atmosphere of the place. Normally the lake made him feel at home but now, it felt eerie, like all of the trees around him were holding their breath, waiting for something to happen. There wasn't a moon in the sky as all of the stars had been obscured by thick cloud and the lapping waves, instead of sounding relaxing, now seemed almost threatening. Eren shivered. Something didn't feel right.

"Levi?" He called out, hearing something move around in the distance. "Levi, is that you?"

A dark shape suddenly moved out from behind the large pile of boulders and Eren's heart leapt. "There you are!" He said, running forwards a few steps before the shape moved again and he froze in the middle of the beach, his eyes wide in shock. The dark shape had reared up to its full height, towering above Eren and definitely too tall to be Levi. Two glowing light eyes were staring at him, rooting him to the spot with fear and as it did so, another shape stepped out from behind it and moved to stand threateningly at his back, blocking his route of escape.

"Who… who are you?" He stammered out, feeling his legs trembling. The shape gave a twisted smile that was bright white in the gloom and Eren tried to back away. He somehow managed to force his legs to step backwards and he made to turn around and run but the other shape quickly grabbed him, crushing his shoulders in two large meaty fists and making him wince.

"Who we are is none of your business." The first shape said, bending over to leer in his face. "What we want to know is, who the hell are you? You're not a member of the Survey Corps, you shouldn't be on our territory."

Eren stayed silent, keeping his mouth firmly closed even as the other man continued to leer at him and prod at his face with a finger thick as a tree branch. He could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage and with every second, his fear was only building as he realised what he had just done. Somebody set a trap, he thought, they knew I was coming and worse, they heard me call for Levi…

"Not going to talk hey?" The large man grinned, looking up at the face of his friend as they shared a dark chuckle. "Maybe your tongue will be a little looser for Erwin… he's sure to turn you into a chatterbox."

"Erwin?!" Eren blurted out, his mouth falling open as panic started to take hold. "No! No, I'm not going!" He shouted out, trying to fight against his captor by flailing about in his arms. He tried to transform into his wolf form but no matter what he did, the other man held him firmly and refused to let go. "Let go of me! Let go!"

"Stop squirming!" The other man cried out, giving a curt nod to his friend. The next thing Eren felt was a hard punch to the back of his head, right about the cut on his neck. It made him cry out and crumple to the floor like his body was made of paper. He lay there whimpering, unable to move as pain from his previous neck injury went shooting through his body like fire once again. The last thing he felt was two hands brutally pick him up and throw him into a sack like he was a piece of meat before he was once again dumped on the floor as the sack was dragged along the sand. His two kidnappers hadn't even taken a few steps before Eren fell unconscious, his eyes slowly closing and his mouth moving to form one last word before he slipped into cold darkness.

"Levi…"


	12. Chapter 12

_Hello all! Welcome to this next chapter! This one has taken a while mainly because I have a lot of school stuff going on right now (essays are not fun) and that has to come first unfortunately. However, I am so excited because this chapter is the one I've wanted to write since I first came up with this fic! I first thought of this idea back in August 2016 and it has taken me til April 2018 to get it out... I hope it was worth the wait!_

Levi grunted as he stared out over the lake. Where is that damn brat? He thought crossly, taking it in turns to stare angrily down at the sand, then angrily up at the sky like both of them were to blame for Eren's absence. I swear to God if he doesn't turn up in the next five minutes, I'm going home, I mean it.

However, even as he was thinking those words, he knew that he wasn't going to act on them. With every second that passed without Eren appearing, his annoyance was gradually fading away and being replaced with concern for his younger lover. Eren was never late for their meetings; it was incredibly rare for him not to be the first one there and even if he was late, he never arrived more than ten minutes after Levi. That made him worried. Had there been some kind of emergency at the Maria pack? He pondered, leaning his shoulder against the nearby pile of boulders. That could explain why Eren was so late. That explanation would have been reassuring to him if it wasn't for the fact he hadn't felt anything but his own emotions for the last few hours. Weirdly, he had grown very used to feeling two sets of emotions at the same time, even when they conflicted, but at that moment, he could only sense his own worry bubbling away inside him. That made him fearful over everything else. If Eren had been delayed, he was certain he would have felt his annoyance or his guilt at not being able to come but instead he felt nothing.

His eyes turned to scan over the beach again and he loudly cursed when once again he saw it was empty. He looked around again and felt another wave of unease pass over him. The lake and surrounding forest were doing nothing to help the air of wariness that had wrapped itself around him. He wasn't sure what it was but the air just felt off. It was thick and sticky like pea soup and it felt like it was clinging to him, attempting to drag him down to the level of the sand. He gave a growl and tried to shake off the strange feeling. Eren better get here soon, he thought crossly. Where the fuck was he?

He ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh and tried to think clearly for a moment. There was no way Eren would have changed his mind, he had seen his face as he had left that morning. Even though he had been in pain, he had still been determined to get there that night and Levi was certain that his will wouldn't have waned over the day. There must be something stopping him, he thought. Maybe somebody got suspicious and he's being watched? He shook his head like a dog trying to shake water out of its fur and he gave another grunt. If that was the case, he was certain he would have felt something, a warning maybe. And also, if Eren couldn't get out, wouldn't one of his two friends have come instead? Unless they were all under watch… He growled. If that was the case, they were all in deep shit.

He pushed himself off of the rocks and paced a couple of times up and down the sand, kicking at the damp ground as he did so. He was trying to reach out to Eren, trying to make him feel his own frustration but he was getting nothing back. It made him feel so cold inside, like a frost was forming on the inside of his skin and the sensation made him shiver. Something was deeply wrong here and he really didn't like it.

Try to focus here, he told himself firmly, pinching his nose. Think about this. When was the last time you felt Eren's emotions with yours? He tried to remember; most of the day he had been too caught up in his own fury to consider what Eren was thinking and now he was bitterly regretting it. He had felt the younger man trying to calm him down by sending him relaxed feelings but he had pushed them aside like a stubborn child. He had wanted to feel angry, he had wanted to boil and burn with his rage against Erwin but now he would have given anything to feel Eren again. The younger man was always sending him those thoughts that always made him take a breath and let go of his body's tension. He had often done the same when Eren was frustrated or mad at something but he had never been as good at it. Damnit, what I would give for some cheerfulness now, Levi thought as his lips tightened. No, you're getting off topic. Think some more, there must have been a point where you felt something change…

He stopped in the middle of the sand with a jolt. Wait a minute, he realised. There had been something. When he had started his journey here, after he had stopped fuming long enough to think about actually getting to Eren, the moment he had left the camp gates he had felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, like someone had just hit him over the head with a hammer. It had hurt so much he had staggered sideways and, thinking he was under attack, he had drawn his blades, ready for a fight. He hadn't put it past Erwin to put guards on the gates just to make sure he didn't leave but when he turned to face his attacker, there had been nobody there. That had really confused him. Why would he feel like he had been whacked over the head when he hadn't? He had considered the thought that the pain could have come from Eren but he had just put it down to Eren straining his injury from the night before. There was no possible way he could have gotten himself in any danger, not at his own camp. Unless…

Levi's face instantly went bloodless as every single one of his veins felt like it had been flooded with ice. No. They couldn't have gone out this far, they couldn't have been expecting him… His head was in turmoil as he tried to process what he thought had happened, not wanting to believe it but feeling like no other option made sense. He thought back to that morning and his confrontation with Erwin and he suddenly felt like an idiot. Why hadn't he seen that for what it was? Erwin had clearly been testing him, using that damn cunning of his to see how he would react and clearly, he had failed. He had given enough away for Erwin to potentially set a trap and if they got Eren… His fists clenched tightly by his sides and his skin suddenly felt like it was burning. If he's so much as touched a hair on his head… he thought darkly, his head once again clouded by pure fury. If he's dared to hurt him in any way, I'm going to kill him.

Turning sharply away from the lake, he transformed into his wolf form in mid-leap as he started sprinting back in the direction of his camp. If Erwin had Eren back there, he knew he needed to act fast. He had first hand experience of how his pack treated outsiders who strayed onto their territory and the memories made him grit his teeth as he ran. He couldn't fail to see how this could fall perfectly into Erwin's hands; if he could show the entire pack that a member of their greatest enemy's pack was on their territory, he could spin that knowledge any way he liked to inspire fear in everyone. He could already picture how the rest of his pack would react and there was no outcome where it came out favourably for Eren. If he was thrown to a worked-up crowd, he would be torn to pieces, just like Isobel and Farlan were…

No! He thought, growling fiercely at the idea. I won't let that happen. Nobody is going to hurt him, I will make sure of that. Nobody else I love is going to get hurt like that again.

It didn't take him long to get back to the camp gates but to his surprise, Hanji was standing there clearly waiting for him as she held a torch aloft. He gave a low growl as he changed back into his human form and when she tried to stop him walking past her by holding out her hand, he threw her arm away and snapped at her.

"Hanji, I don't give a shit about your experiments or your fucking psych-analysis bullshit, I'm not dealing with it right now! If Erwin sent you to give me a lecture, I don't fucking care and I need to go find him right now and if you try and stop me-"

"I'm not here to stop you. In fact, Erwin wants to see you too, right away."

Hanji's voice was wobbling slightly as she spoke, like she was trying hard not to crack, and it made Levi stop struggling and properly look at her for the first time since arriving. What he saw only made him feel worse; Hanji's face was pale like all the blood had been drained from her body and her wide grin had withered down to a thin line. Her hands were shaking a little as they gripped the torch and her lips were bright red from where she had been nervously biting them and seeing them red, puffy and sore really made his stomach drop. For Hanji to get like this, something must be seriously wrong. He turned away from her to look around the camp and what he saw only added to his unease. Even for the middle of the night, the camp seemed dead; there were no lights on in any of the buildings, not the dormitories, the food hall or even the watch towers. The only place that seemed to have any life was the main headquarters, where light was glowing from every window like the whole building was ablaze. Levi could hear shouting and calling coming from inside, like the whole pack was in their screaming their heads off, and he turned back to Hanji, who now looked even more ashen.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked her, his voice barking like he was in pain. Hanji shrugged her shoulders as she gnawed at her lip.

"I'm not sure. Just after the sun went down, Erwin called an urgent meeting in the great hall, he said everyone had to be there or else they would be thrown out of the pack. I went inside with everyone else but then he pulled me aside and told me to go wait at the gates for you. He said that when you got here, I had to give you this message. He said you need to come to the great hall and explain yourself to everyone and that you have to prove your loyalty, once and for all." She looked up at Levi with wide watery eyes. "Do you have any idea what he means by that?"

"Not a clue," Levi answered, looking over his shoulder at the main headquarters, where the shouting was getting louder, the haze of words rising up to the sky like smoke. "But from the looks of things, it can't be good." The feeling of dread in his stomach suddenly felt as big and heavy as a cannonball and, remembering what he had come here for, his head snapped back around to face her. "Hanji, has anything else strange happened? Did you notice anything suspicious coming in or out of the camp?"

Hanji barely had to ponder for a second before she gave a furious nod. "Yes, actually there was something pretty big," she told him. "Not long after I had been put on the gates, two of Erwin's more competent guards came from the forest. I tried to question them about what they had been doing out there but they only grunted at me that they were doing business for Erwin and that they had his permission to be out of the camp. When I tried to ask them what they had been doing out there, they told me to shut up and pretty much threatened me to keep my mouth shut. One of them actually got so close, he sprayed spit all over me, which is really not hygienic and his breath was terrible, I really wish I could have given him some mint but I haven't had any for a week…" She gave a huff and crossed her arms at the indignity of the situation before carrying on with the story. "Anyway, they forced their way past me and headed towards the back of the main headquarters. But that wasn't the most disturbing part. One of them was dragging a rather large sack behind him that looked really heavy and I don't want to suppose anything Levi but as a doctor, I know what a body looks like when its covered up and I think there was a body in there."

A body? All of Levi's nerves felt numb as he tried to process what Hanji had just said. Unknowingly, she had just confirmed his worst nightmare; not only had Eren been captured, he had been taken by two of Erwin's guards and brought back here in front of his whole pack. And if they had brought him back in a sack and been dragging him that way… no, he thought, was that the reason why he couldn't feel Eren's emotions anymore? Could it be that he was dead?

"Was the body moving? Struggling to get out at all?" He asked quickly, refusing to let that thought take hold. If Eren really was dead (and god, he hoped that wasn't the case), he was certain that he would have felt something happen, something like their bond being severed. He had heard from several couples around the camp that cutting a bond was agony. It was meant to feel like your soul had been torn in two, never to be whole again. Surely our bond wouldn't have ended with this empty feeling? He thought, his mind racing. Surely, he's still alive, he has to be…

"I can't be sure." Hanji answered, her eyes sparking with intrigue at how suddenly agitated Levi was. "There did seem to be some muffled noises coming from inside it but they were really weak and feeble so I couldn't tell where they were coming from. I watched them drag it through the back of the main headquarters and then, about a minute or two later, there was all this shouting and screeching coming from inside. Whatever was inside it, it really caused a stir." She nibbled at her lip again as both of them turned to look at the building where the light was still blazing and the noise was only getting louder and angrier by the second. "Levi, what on earth is going on? It feels like everyone's gone mad."

"Indeed. I know the world's gone crazy when you're the sanest person in camp." Levi grimaced as he stared down the main headquarters. He had no doubt that Eren was inside but he had no idea what was happening to him. He could picture him right now on that stage, trussed up like a terrified animal as Erwin used him as bait to make their camp fall for whatever web of lies he was spinning. Maybe he had already been thrown to the bloodthirsty crowd, maybe he had already been torn apart by them… No! He wasn't going to think like that, he insisted. Something deep inside him was certain Eren was still alive and he was inclined to believe it. Still, he knew that if Eren was alive, he would probably be weak and Erwin definitely had some plan for him. He needed to get to Eren right now, before it was too late.

"I'm going in," he said, turning back to Hanji with eyes like steel. "I need to find out what's going on in there and what Erwin wants with me. Did he say what you were supposed to do when I got back and you delivered your message?"

"No, he didn't say anything." Hanji said, a trace of her usual grin returning as a sly smile curled at her raw lips. "I guess that means I'll just have to come in with you then. He did say he wanted everyone's attendance."

"Exactly." Levi smirked back with a nod. "Let's go."

The two of them approached the main door to the building, the grand entrance they both knew opened up straight into the great hall. They exchanged small glances as they got closer; the two of them were more used to using one of the many back doors to get into Erwin's office and confront him but now those days of Levi storming past the guards to yell at their leader seemed a million years away. They reached the doors and pulled them open a slight crack, just enough for them both to slip inside. On entering, they suddenly both found themselves pressed back as the heat, light and noise of the room came crashing out into the night air and the frenzy of people hit them like a wave.

"Get him!"

"Hit him harder! He's clearly an enemy spy!"

"Beat the answer out of him, damnit!"

"Death to the trespasser!"

The people around them filled the hall, pressed tightly together like sardines in a tin, and they were all facing the stage and screaming at the top of their lungs. Levi could see several members of his pack, people he normally saw as calm considered individuals, were stamping their feet and waving their fists, their faces twisted into caricatures of fury. Some were even foaming at the mouth and that made him cringe. This clearly wasn't good.

"There's Erwin!" Hanji suddenly yelled in his ear, her arm reaching up and pointing at the stage. "We need to get over there!" Levi nodded and the two of them started pushing through the crowd, Levi growling and using every bit of strength he possessed to prise the mob apart and squeeze himself through. The air in the room was hot and sticky and he could smell the sweat rising off of people's skins. This is disgusting, he thought angrily as he shoved he way though. What the hell has got them worked up like this?

Suddenly, like somebody had flicked a switch to change the atmosphere of the room completely, the people around him fell silent and the crowd in front of him parted like he was Moses before the Red Sea. He nearly stumbled forwards at the sudden change, only just keeping his composure as he looked up at the stage where Erwin was standing like a king before his subjects. He was looking down at Levi with a slight smirk and the sight of his smug face was enough to make Levi growl and snap his jaws.

"Levi, there you are." Erwin said, almost airily. "How good of you to finally join us. As you can see, we've already gotten underway with the meeting, I do hope you aren't offended by that."

"Shut it Erwin." Levi snapped. "Just tell me what the hell is going on here. What the fuck are you doing?"

Erwin didn't say a word. Instead, he swept his arm downwards, gesturing towards the space just before the stage. Levi looked downwards and what he saw there made his whole body freeze up in horror.

Eren was kneeling right in the centre of the clear space between two wooden posts, his arms stretched out by two lengths of thick chain and his ankles bound in steel clamps. His wrists had been chained so tightly that even from a few metres away, Levi could see the redness of his skin, and his arm muscles looked so strained and weakened that if they hadn't been tied to the posts, they would have flopped to the ground uselessly. He had been stripped of his uniform, leaving him only in his trousers and his torso was bare and bruised. There were several distinct boot prints on his skin and the sight of them made Levi taste bile on his tongue. Eren's head was bowed, his brown hair covering his face a little like he was too ashamed to face his torturers. He was trying to hold himself up, trying to be proud but it was obvious to everyone around him that the strain was exhausting him. One of the guards gave a smirk and kicked at Eren's legs, hooking one out from underneath him so his body fell forwards. The crowd hollered in approval as Eren gave a cry of pain. It was only the chains at his wrists that prevented his face hitting the cold floor and for a moment, he hung there as if the shame of his situation had him paralyzed. It was then, as he lay there, when Levi saw the state of his back and he was so suddenly sickened by the sight of it, he was amazed that he didn't empty the contents of his stomach right there in front of everyone.

"What the fuck?" He cried out as his eyes racked across the form of the boy he loved in front of him, struggling to hold back the anger he wanted to unleash. Eren's back had been whipped, the deep red cuts of leather whips standing out so clearly against the mess of his skin that they could have been tattooed there. They slashed from side to side like a zigzag, reaching from the nape of his neck down to the line of his trousers and so much blood was pouring from them, they had soaking the seat of the garment and dribbles were trailing down his legs. They had clearly been working at it for a long while as large patches of his back were rusty with dried blood whilst others were bright crimson and still bleeding, fresh as a kill. Each wound was still open from the bite of the whip, the edges rough and raw like the skin had been torn by an animal's teeth. Eren looked like he had been the victim of a savage attack and Levi felt more than heard Hanji gasp behind him as she covered her mouth with her hands. He could only stand there, watching in agony as Eren heaved himself upright again. This was way beyond what he thought Erwin was capable of and the knowledge that he was the one who had ordered this filled his stomach with sheer dread. He doesn't even know about our relationship, he thought despairingly. What the hell will he do with us when he finds out?

Eren had kept his head lowered as he had righted himself but at the sound of Levi's voice, he slightly lifted his gaze, enough so that Levi could see his green eyes. His mouth had fallen open in astonishment and he almost gave a smile of hope but he quickly masked any joy at seeing him and his eyes were silently pleading with Levi not to react. Levi's skin was humming with anger and when he looked up and caught sight of Erwin's smug expression, he wanted to throw up all over again but his face stayed passive, his features still and unmoving like his face was made of ivory. Even though he was sickened and furious at the state of his love and what his pack had done to him, he knew he couldn't react to it. If Erwin and the rest of their camp knew of their relationship, especially when they were in this bloodthirsty state, there was no telling what could happen to him or Eren, and he painfully dragged his eyes away from Eren and back up to Erwin, who already looked like he had won a great victory.

"Erwin, what is the meaning of this?" He demanded to know, hoping he had the right level of shock in his voice. He could feel Hanji pressing at his back and he could tell by the silence and the way her body had gone rigid and cold against his that she too was shocked at what was happening. He darted his eyes back down at Eren to view the scene in disgust though that time, he didn't need to fake it. "This is disgusting, you're going to get the floor filthy! And who the hell is this person?"

Erwin suddenly whipped his arm to the side and the whole hall fell eerily silent, like they were all puppets and Erwin had just cut their strings. "I was rather hoping you could tell me that Levi," he said, adapting a stern look on his face like he was talking to a traitor. "Since you were the one who had arranged to meet him out in the forest."

A ripple passed through the crowd as the crush of people around Levi began to murmur. Levi could feel their eyes on him like their gazes were leaded weights and he gritted his teeth. Erwin was playing the crowd like a piano and one wrong move from either Eren or himself could send the whole room into uproar. "I don't know what the hell you mean." He responded, waving a hand flippantly at Eren. "I've never seen this boy in my life. Is this what we do in the Survey Corps, we attack teenagers now? This boy is barely a pup."

"He was found earlier tonight on the fringes of our territory, wearing Maria pack insignia." Erwin declared, once again drawing a reaction from the crowd in the form of a loud gasp. "When my guards found him, he mentioned your name just before we apprehended him. Since we got back here, we have been unable to extract any more information from him but there's no need to worry- we are certain he will crack soon." Levi saw the two guards exchanged grins as the crowd roared and Eren winced and he once again felt his fury rise inside him. Just from the state of him, it was clear Eren had been forced to suffer yet he still hadn't given anything away. Levi wanted nothing more than to run to him and pull him into his embrace but he felt frozen in place as Erwin once again turned his tirade of words on him.

"I'd expect nothing less from a dingy dog like this but you however, are a different story. You invited a member of the Maria pack onto our territory, a member of our greatest enemy, and you expect not to meet consequences for that?" The murmuring among the crowd grew louder and more frantic as Erwin continued with his speech. The tall blond man was really getting into his stride, each sentence acting like a red rag to a bull as the people around Levi started to churn with fury. "Every day, you ignore our rules, every day, you disappear off somewhere and nobody sees you for hours. Is this what you do with your time Levi? Are you always off plotting with our enemies? Are you secretly working against us to bring down everything we've fought for, everything you've made?"

"He's a traitor!" An angry voice hollered from the back of the hall and several others rose in agreement. "He wasn't one of us to begin with!"

"He worked against us once, he'll do it again!"

"Once an outsider, always an outsider!"

"Tie him up too!"

"Are you all crazy?!" Hanji shouted over all off them. "Have you forgotten how Levi fought on our side during the Great War? Have you forgotten how he led our armies and fought off entire squadrons from the Maria pack by himself? Levi has proved himself with many years of loyal service to our pack- he is no traitor!"

Her impassioned words seemed to still the crowd a little and Levi saw his chance. "I'm telling you Erwin, I am not a traitor." He said, staring straight into his leader's eyes and curling his lip in a slight snarl. "I admit I was an enemy to this pack once but that was years and years ago, so long now most people don't remember it. You showed me mercy, you gave me a purpose and a life free from the dangers outside our territory- do you really think I would repay you like this, by fraternising with the enemy?" He almost felt like gagging as he spoke- each word was bullshit and he knew that both he and Erwin could tell. Saying each word felt rancid and he would have given anything to speak his real mind and say what he was actually thinking but he could see his words were having an effect on the crowd. Instead of eyeing him like he was already damned, many of them were now nodding in agreement with him and when he mentioned mercy, a few people had given a cheer. "I have served this pack like it was my own, it is my own and I would do nothing to jeopardise that. It's true I do stray outside of the camp but that's only because I like to see for myself that our territory is secure. The last thing I would do is invite outsiders into it, as I know from experience just how dangerous they can be. I've never met this boy before in my life and I don't see why him saying my name is any kind of real evidence. The whole Maria pack knows my name and fears me, don't you think that's why he said it? He probably knew he was in our territory and expected to see the dreaded Levi looming out of the shadows."

The crowd were all beginning to nod and murmur again but this time Levi could feel that they were on his side. The power in the room had shifted and now he was the one who held them in his hands. "Erwin, I'm telling you to end this nonsense. I am a loyal member of this pack and honestly, the idea of me being a traitor is frankly fucking laughable. Just let the pup go back home; he clearly has nothing to tell us and we can send him back with his tail between his legs. That would show any cocky Maria shits that we don't mess around with trespassers."

The crowd erupted in a cheer and Levi smiled as Erwin furiously pressed his mouth into a cold line. His frustration was evident in the shaking line of his fists and Levi felt like grinning at the way he had to hide them behind his back. He glanced down at Eren and his heart lifted a little in hope; maybe now that he had the crowd on his side, Erwin would be forced to let him go. However, when he lifted his eyes back up to the face of the man on the platform, he saw Erwin's deep blue eyes flash sinisterly and he once again felt his heart sink like one of the stones he and Eren had once skimmed over the lake.

"It is clear then that no member of our pack here is a traitor," his voice boomed out, seeming to shake the rafters of the building with its authority. "However, we are still no closer to finding out what this young man was doing in our territory. If he was not here to meet with someone, that must mean he is a spy! He must have been trying to infiltrate us!"

Levi looked around almost in shock as the crowd once again fickly flocked to Erwin's side. The swell of noise was beginning to rise again and it was all aimed at the cowering boy kneeling on the ground. Once again, insults were flying around the hall like wings birds and they were only buoyed up by Erwin's words as he continued to shout and the crowd grew louder.

"Maybe he was trying to sneak into our very camp!" He shouted. "Maybe he was trying to worm his way into the very heart of our territory! He could have been sent by the Maria pack to poison our water, burn our food, even murder us in our very beds!"

"Nooo!" The crowd bellowed like beasts in fury and sheer terror passed across Eren's face. From where he was sitting, it must look like a sea of hate was coming towards him, Levi thought with a similar horror in his own face. What on earth was Erwin planning to do?

"We must get the answer out of him!" Erwin went on, gesturing down towards Eren like he was a dog begging at his feet. "We have to know, for our own safety and so we can sleep soundly in our beds tonight! We must get his purpose out of him, by any means necessary!"

The people around Levi roared their approval and he watched in stunned silence as one of the guards grinned and stepped closer to Eren. He raised his thick leather whip high and, with a crack that sounded like lightning, brought it down on Eren's back, right between his shoulder blades. Eren gave a scream that was almost lost among the heat and noise of the crowd and, when a second blow rained down on the curve of his spine, the hall appeared to rock with the sounds. Only Levi seemed to be able to hear the sick crack of the whip as it hit Eren's skin, only he seemed to be able to see the blood freshly oozing down his back, dripping to the floor like he was a carcass hanging in the butcher's. Erwin's guards were relentless, only stopping when Erwin threw his arm to the side, demanding complete silence so he could speak amidst the frenzy.

"Tell me now," he insisted, fixing Eren's back with a glare so piecing, it could have been another lashing of the whip. "What were you doing on Survey Corps territory? What are your orders? What was your mission?"

Each question was met with a long pause as Eren refused to answer. His body was convulsing with pain, each shudder making his wounds weep red but still he didn't say a word. Levi could see the way he was biting at his lip, like he was trying to keep the words in, and he felt almost like falling to his own knees and pleading with him. Say something! He wanted to scream. Say anything, say whatever, just get this to stop, please save yourself. However, his knees felt locked in place and as the seconds dragged by slowly, Eren still said nothing. From the stage above him, Erwin let the silence echo through the hall before he grimly nodded and raised his hand again.

"Keep going." He ordered grimly. "Hit him harder. He'll have to talk sooner or later."

The guards stepped forwards again against a background of deafening noise and one went to raise his arm. Levi's eyes followed the slim black whip as it stretched up towards the light, like the guard was trying to make it reach the moon outside. In that moment, time seemed to slow down, crawling at a sluggish pace like it was moving through treacle. Every single one of Levi's senses felt overwhelmed; the colours of the room were too bright with the blinding lights, the roaring of the crowd was too loud, the taste of bile in his mouth was too sharp and made him want to gag again. He could feel Hanji and the people behind him pressing on his back like he was the only barrier in place to stop them reaching Eren and all he could smell was sweat and the rancid smell of fresh blood. Everything was too much, this sea of people was too much and the worst part was, he could do nothing.

He looked back down at Eren and saw his green eyes were staring up at him from underneath his curtain of hair, still with that same pleading look. Don't, they seemed to be saying, you'll only make yourself look more suspicious. It was something Levi knew he would have said himself, something he would have said to be sensible but he didn't want to hear sense at that moment. He wanted to hear that everything would be alright, he wanted to whisper to Eren that they would make it out of this mess just fine but his lips wouldn't form the words. He knew he would choke on such a bare-faced lie.

He looked away from Eren and tried to stare at the whip, right up until the point it started to fall. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that the blackness would make it more bearable, but it did nothing. He heard Eren scream again and he sounded like shattering glass. Then, just as Levi turned his head away so he couldn't peek and see the whip rise again, he heard the faintest whisper of a word. Amidst all the shouting and the screaming, in a voice that he didn't think anyone would hear, Eren let one word slip out of his lips in a desperate plea, like he was praying to a god that had long since abandoned him.

"Please…"

That was the point where Levi snapped.

His eyes snapped open as the anger he had been trying to contain surged through him like an electric current. Suddenly, time seemed to speed up again, like a bird fleeing a cage and flying for its life, and Levi could see the whip falling. Before he knew it, he had transformed into his wolf form and leapt across the room, tackling the guard and grabbing the whip in his teeth. He let out a low growl and the guard cowered underneath him, letting him tear the whip away from his fingers and chew it to bits. He spat out the shreds of leather as he stalked over to Eren, standing in front of him so the other guard couldn't get near him. The hall had fallen into a deadly silence as everyone stared at him, unable to believe what had just happened before their eyes. Even Eren looked shocked, his green eyes wide as he tried to angle his head and look behind him at the black wolf that was curling his body around him.

"Levi, what are you doing?" He hissed quietly but Levi barely heard his words over his low growl. His eyes were focused on the stage above him, where Erwin was looking down at him with his own shocked expression. His mouth had fallen open a little and Levi could see he had taken a short step back from the edge of the stage. He must have thought I was lunging for him, he thought with a little inward chuckle but his brief flash of humour instantly vanished when Erwin straightened back up and he saw the look in his eyes. The expression on Erwin's face was one of pure triumph and when he saw his eyes, Levi knew he had fallen right into Erwin's trap. He had him right where he wanted him.

"Levi, what is the meaning of this?" He shouted, his voice sounding outraged even though his eyes were shining with a sick glee. "Why are you protecting this prisoner? He is nothing but a spy and a traitor! He needs to be dealt with!"

"I don't give a shit!" Levi shouted back, causing several people in the crowd to loudly gasp. "I'm not letting you touch him again?"

"And why is that?" Erwin said, leaning forwards like he was straining to hear, even though the room was deathly silent.

"Because…" Levi's voice faltered a little, before he reared his head up and fixed Erwin with a glare. "Because he is my mate."

The crowd erupted in a flurry of gasps and shocked whispering, their heads flying from side to side like they were watching something flutter around their heads. Hanji had fallen silent, her body still as she glanced towards the stage with wide worried eyes behind her goggles. Meanwhile, Erwin had the face of a general who had just won a glorious battle. His eyes were gleaming like polished glass as he stared down at them like a predator surveying its cornered prey and even when Levi growled, he didn't look perturbed. Levi could hear Eren whimpering behind him and he curled his tail around him tightly. He had no idea what Erwin had up his sleeve but he was sure he wouldn't like it.

"You see this?" Erwin thundered, pointing down at the two of them. "This is betrayal on the greatest scale imaginable! Not only has he admitted to knowing this spy, which he denied only a few minutes ago, he has also admitted that he is his mate! His mate! From a member of our enemy pack, our greatest threat! He is surely in league with them!"

"No!" Hanji shouted but in the midst of the crowd, her voice was almost completely lost. "Erwin, this is madness, what are you-"

"Silence!" Erwin shouted, staring her down with an anger Levi had never seen before on his face. "Were you in on this too? Were you acting with him and this scum?!"

"No she wasn't!" Levi shouted back. The crowd around him had gone quiet at Erwin's shout but he could feel their hostility like it was a fog surrounding him and Eren. It already felt like they were closing in on them, just waiting for the command so they could leap at them and Levi could feel Eren was shaking as he buried his face in his soft black fur. Both of them were thinking of the story he had told Eren before, the story of his capture and what had happened to his friends and Levi's stomach tightened at the thought. He had to get them both out of here but he wasn't going to implicate his other friends. "Hanji knew nothing of this! She's innocent, leave her alone! It's me you want, isn't it? You planned this all to try and frame me! Listen to me, I am not working with the Maria pack and I'm no traitor!"

"He is clearly lying!" Erwin boomed and the crowd clearly agreed; they were screaming at the tops of their voices, surging backwards and forwards like a wave determined to get to them and as Erwin continued to rant, they were only whipped into more of a frenzy. "This is exactly what I was talking about before! These people are all snakes, they know just how to sneak their way into our camp, they know how to mimic our ways and get into our hearts! See the extent of their power! This boy was able to seduce our finest war general and he has turned his head so much, he is willing to turn against his own pack for him! This goes to show exactly what kind of treacherous beasts they are! They are a scourge on the land and they need to be eradicated! I once thought they were a reasonable pack, I was the one who wanted to make peace but these creatures have shown that they don't know what peace is! It is time we made a stand! It is time we showed that we will not take their warmongering ways any longer! It is time we attacked!"

Every word of Erwin's speech hit Levi like a knife in his back. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had suspected Erwin had been turning towards war but he had never imagined this. After everything their pack had gone through, after the experiences they both had forced themselves through, he really wanted to plunge them all back into that darkness? It couldn't happen, he thought as he gritted his teeth. It just couldn't.

"Are you mad?!" He cried out, his voice only just rising above the holler of the crowd. "You want to attack the Maria pack, again after all this time?! This is craziness, we have been at peace barely a decade! Does nobody remember what we had to live through last time, does no one remember how many lives we lost at that damned Last Stand? That was meant to be our great victory but it was a shamble! Why would this be any different?"

To his horror, however, Levi could see his words were having no affect on the people around him. Swept away on the tide of Erwin's grand speech, they all had a hungry look in their eyes and as he darted his head from side to side in panic, Levi could feel his stomach sinking at the sight of it. These people won't be appeased without violence now, he thought. There's no way I can bring them back from this brink. He looked up at Erwin again and the victorious look he had as he surveyed the baying mob was enough to get his blood boiling again.

"I won't let you do this Erwin!" He howled like a wolf, his voice so thunderous that the crowd around him went quiet and he felt Eren quake behind him. "I'm not being dragged into another war!"

He went to howl again, uncurling himself from Eren ready to strike but before he could, another load roar filled the hall as Erwin changed into his own animal form. On the stage, a great golden grizzly bear stood back on his powerful hind legs and bellowed, his front paws slashing through the air before they landed back on the ground with an almighty thud. He gave another bellow that made his lips shake and it echoed through the hall, cutting off every other sound as the rest of the pack froze in fear. Levi felt his own paws stiffen on the ground like they had taken root there. Erwin had only ever used his animal form for battle before and the seriousness of the situation was finally laid clear. Erwin was determined to get his own way, no matter what he had to do.

"Guards, seize them both! They were about to attack me!" Erwin demanded and suddenly Levi felt himself being grabbed and dragged away from Eren.

"Get off me!" He snarled, fighting back with all the strength he could muster but before he could free himself, his wolf body was thrown to the floor and pinned there by five of Erwin's strongest guards. He tried to wriggle out, his body thrashing and his jaws snapping in an attempt to get them to release him, but they still held him firmly, refusing to let go. He could see two other guards unhooking Eren's chains from the wooden posts and lifting him upwards, trying to dangle him from their hold like he was a sack of meat. However, even though his limbs were weak and he was exhausted from pain, he still tried to struggle against them and Levi's anger flared up once again as one guard went for a whip to try and control him.

"Don't you dare fucking touch him!" He howled again, squirming once again with a new strength that toppled one guard over and made the others fight to keep hold of him. "I'll fucking kill you if you touch him again-"

"Enough!" The bear on stage roared again, making everyone stop in their tracks again. He eyed both Levi and Eren with his stormy blue eyes and Levi could see he was calculating his next move. Levi could feel the coldness of his eyes on his face and he almost opened his mouth to try and reason with him. They had been friends for years, allies in battle, he had helped him to clean up the peace and Erwin had been the one who had saved him from death all those years ago. He focused his eyes on his, trying to make Erwin remember all those times but he just turned away from him.

"Take him down to the cellar," he finally said, not looking at Levi as he announced his sentence. "And make sure he can't get free. As for the traitor…" His voice paused for a brief moment as he scanned over Eren's body. He still had trickles of blood dripping down his legs drawn in wonky paths down the material of his trousers but the sight didn't stir anyone in the room. The crowd around them was still jeering at him and they only fell silent when Erwin gave his next words. "Chain him up in another cell. We will execute him tomorrow morning."

"What?! No!" Levi shouted as the crowd erupted in violent cheers and the guards picked him up to drag him down to the basement. "You can't do this! Eren! Eren!"

"Levi!" Levi could only just hear Eren calling his name as he too was dragged away and, as the crowd finally moved forwards to fill the space at the front of the stage, he only caught a glimpse of his scared green eyes before he disappeared from sight. "Levi!"

"Eren!" He tried shouting one last time but his voice was lost as Erwin stood up straight again and changed back into his human form. Giving a wide sinister grin at the angry mob at his feet, he gripped his hands into fists and made one more rousing speech, one Levi only just heard before he was thrown into the darkness of the cellar.

"Tomorrow will be a new dawn for the Survey Corps!" He boomed, his voice not dissimilar to the angry growling of his bear form. "We will no longer take these traitors! We will no longer stomach this drain on our land! I have been providing to keep us safe and now this is where it all pays off! Tomorrow, at dawn, we shall attack the Maria pack on their land and there, we will show them no mercy! And we shall start the new age of our pack," he said, with a growl of delight. "By spilling the blood of their spy right before their eyes."


	13. Chapter 13

_Hi all! I hope you all are having a great summer!_

 _This fic hasn't been updated in a while, mainly because I have had uni work coming out of my ears these past few months but I'm hoping now that it is summer again, I can hopefully get this fic up and running again. This chapter in particular was fun to write because I had been planning the scenes since I started the fic which was a very long time ago now..._

 _I hope you all enjoy it!_

"Get your fucking paws off of me!" Levi snarled as he was roughly carried down the stairs and into the labyrinth that was the basement. The drop in temperature from the sweat-soaked air of the crammed hall into the empty stone corridor made goosebumps rise on Levi's skin and he fought all the harder when he saw where they were taking him.

"You bastards! Let me go!" He snapped, continuing to struggle as a memory of what had happened the last time he had been down here flashed before his eyes. He could remember being manhandled down here in the same rough way by different faces, their features contorted with contempt for him as he tried to escape and make his way back to his friends, his mind refusing to accept that they were far beyond rescuing. He had been covered in sweat and blood and his fingers had been broken from when his blades had been forced from his hands. He could remember how scared he had been; he had been certain that he was going to die in that basement. He had been sure he would never see daylight again and that had been the worst thing, knowing he would die caged in a stone prison like a trapped dog. When he had been given his second chance, he had grabbed it with both hands, never wanting to find himself back down there in that desperate state. He had sworn he would never be like that again and yet, here he was, fated to the same thing all over again. The only difference was, this time the person he had come with was still alive, though he didn't know how long he had left.

He went quiet for a brief second, trying to listen out for Eren's voice but the only things he could hear were the thudding footsteps of the guards that were taking him deeper and deeper into the basement. Their fat fingers were squeezed tight around his wrists, ankles, waist and neck and he could feel their pressure increasing when he tried to wriggle free. Levi gave a low growl but he knew he couldn't do much else. Even though he was still perfectly capable of fighting off whole squadrons of men, Erwin's bodyguards had been trained by him to be stronger than most men and Levi had exhausted himself too much from struggling to fight them. Even if he had been able to defeat them, the only exit from the basement was through the hall and he knew there was no way he could fight off the whole pack, especially if they had been worked into a frenzy by Erwin. There was no use trying to fight; at the moment it was hopeless.

"Here!" One of the guards at the front suddenly shouted as they came to a startling halt that was so sudden, Levi felt his captor's bodies lurching forwards as they stopped. "Throw him in here!"

Before Levi had time to think, he suddenly was thrown against a stone wall. His spine hit the worn slabs of stone with a crack and a shout of pain escaped his mouth as he crumpled to the ground like a piece of screwed-up paper. As he forced himself up onto his arms, he could hear the guards laughing and jeering, right before a heavy metal door clanged shut and a key was turned in a large lock.

"Looks like the great war hero lost all his bottle." The guard that had previously shouted jeered at him through the bars of the door. "The almighty Levi, all caged up like the damn dog he is. We'll leave him in there until the fight is over." He then said, turning to the other guards as he hung his set of keys on his belt like a common jailer. "Maybe once his little pup has been put down, he'll be a bit more obedient."

"You fuckers!" Levi yelled after them as they walked away, his energy returning in a brief surge at the mention of Eren. He had no idea where he was in this great cold maze of stone rooms and the thought sent a chill down his spine. What made the thought worse was not knowing what condition he was in; Levi had seen how torn up his back was from hours of torture and his wounds had still been bleeding when they were both dragged down here. He had to get them both out of there by morning, he had no choice. He couldn't let Eren be executed on a battlefield to start another war…

He forced himself to slowly get to his feet, shaking each of his limbs as he went to check for any broken bones. Once he was satisfied he wasn't seriously hurt, he looked around his cell and loudly swore again. It seemed that Erwin had a deep sense of cruel irony as this was the exact same cell he had been placed in before when the Survey Corps had finally captured him. He could recognise it from the view through the cell door of the same long corridor that appeared endless, a view demoralising enough to drain the hope of anyone. He could also see the various claw marks he had carved in around the room, when he had feebly hoped one stone was loose and could help him escape. Fucking Erwin! He thought viciously, highly tempted to once again kick the wall like he had done all those years ago. Just wait until I get out of here, you big blond fucker…

Still simmering with anger, Levi walked over to the door to examine it. That appeared to be the only thing that had changed as the bars were thicker and much shinier than he remembered. He grasped two bars and shook them with all his might but the door only gave a rigid shudder, barely moving on its hinges. He muttered a curse. Of course Erwin would have changed the doors; if he was planning to restart the war, it made sense for him to have a secure place where he could throw prisoners in. And of course, he would know that nobody would think to check what was happening down here. Most of the pack wouldn't think to come down to such a miserable place and, with all the bad memories the place held for him, he never would have wanted to. Fucking Erwin, he thought again, his head drooping to rest on one of the cold metal bars. How did I never see this coming?

There was still a faint bitter taste of bile in his mouth and it grew stronger when he thought of what he had just witnessed in the hall. After so many years of negotiating and maintaining peace, he had never dreamed Erwin would want to return to the hell of war. Levi and him had fought side by side for years and they had seen the exact same horrors. Has he forgotten all that? He wondered. Has his mind really been so twisted by the old hatred between our packs? He said long ago that this was what was best for our pack, he thought. Does he really mean it?

He sighed. He was beginning to think he didn't know anything about his old friend at all. Pushing himself away from the door, he fixed the outside corridor with a glare. He didn't have time to ponder what was going on in Erwin's head. He needed to get out of this cell, he needed to find Eren and then the two of them needed to get out of here, fast.

Scowling, he moved his aching limbs into a fighting stance and eyed the door like it was his worst enemy. He had broken out of much worse situations; this should be easy. However, when he launched himself forwards and kicked the door with all the strength he could muster, the bars only gave a short rattle before they stilled and went silent. The hinges had given no indication of breaking and Levi loudly swore as his foot throbbed with even more pain.

"Fuck this!" He spat out as he delivered more whirling kicks on the bars, using both his feet and fists to try and bring them down. However, when he stopped to catch his breath, the door was still intact and the hinges had held up strongly against his attack. "Damn and blast and shit!"

"Shut up!" He heard the voice of the guard who had locked his door shout at him. The words were echoing but not that faint which meant, Levi realised, that they couldn't be that far away. Great, he thought. Even if I do get out of here, they are going to be on me like shit on a shovel. And there's no way I'll be able to fight them all off, not if I can't even break a fucking door down…

"Make me, you pig!" He yelled back, continuing to batter the door with every ounce of his energy. Maybe if he comes up to fight me, I can knock him out in this cell and escape with his keys, he thought. However, even though his attacks on the door were creating a loud racket, none of the guards appeared to make him stop. After a long few minutes of relentless fighting, he fell back against the far stone wall and realised exactly why. Erwin's not that much of a dumbass, he thought. He would have told the guards not to approach me just in case something like that happened. Fuck his stupid planning.

He took a step away from the door and was just about to smash his foot back into it when he suddenly heard a much more familiar voice. His body went rigid as he listened, balancing on one foot as the loud voice clearly carried to his cell.

"Evening gentlemen!" Hanji cried out, her voice as jolly as always. Levi felt himself stiffen; he would have recognised that insanely cheerful voice anywhere. What on earth was she playing at? He thought, almost marvelling at how chipper she sounded. "I came to see what all the hullabaloo was about. Sounds like you have a pretty rowdy prisoner."

"You're telling me." Levi could practically hear the exasperated eye roll his jailer was giving Hanji and it made him grit his teeth and kick at the door. Fuck him. "He's been at it now for nearly half an hour. It's exhausting! Me and the boys, we just want to get to bed and be rested… you know… for the big attack tomorrow."

"Of course." Hanji said sympathetically. "Erwin thought that might be the case, he needs all his soldiers fighting fit for tomorrow. That's why he sent me, you see." There was a flourishing sound, like that of a cape being thrown away and then a collective group of oohing in awe. "This is a sleeping draught, made with pure essence of valerian and limeflower. A full bottle of this and he will sleep like the dead for the rest of the night and for most of tomorrow too so by the time he wakes up…" She didn't even need to finish her sentence as the guards were all making approving noises and Levi felt his blood run cold. Had she gone crazy now? At this rate, he would have no allies in his pack.

He heard footsteps and he leapt back from the door, expecting to see a return of his burly jailers, ready to force him to drink whatever hellish liquid Hanji had cooked up. Instead, only one head bobbed around the corner and shot a wide grin at him, its crazy ponytail flying everywhere as it gave him a cheery wave.

"Hey Levi!"

"Hanji!" Levi growled. "Are you insane, what are you-"

The rest of his angry words died on his tongue when her finger shot up to silence him. Her grin fell from her face like a stone and she suddenly looked so serious, Levi felt a jolt of fear hit his stomach. "Don't say another word," she whispered, beckoning him to come closer to the bars which he duly did. "I don't have much time, I have to make it look like I'm deceiving you into drinking this. Here."

She pressed something hard into his palm and when Levi looked down, his eyes went wide in shock. A tiny opaque blue glass bottle was folding lines into his skin from where Hanji had forcefully pressed it but that wasn't what shocked him. Lodged inside the dark bottle floating in a clear liquid was a tiny key. He looked back up at Hanji with his mouth hanging open and she slyly grinned back at him.

"Did you think Erwin was the only one who had a set of keys? I'm a doctor, I need to be able to get anywhere." She beamed at his surprised face before she suddenly switched back to being serious. "Here's the plan. You need to drink the liquid- don't worry, it's just water, not an actual sleeping draught, those guards will believe anything… Then pretend to fall asleep. The guards will check on you once and then they'll leave. Once they do, use the key to open the door. Your young man is being held down the end of this corridor, in the very last cell. Be quick."

She gave him a wink and then suddenly she was gone. He heard her walking back towards the guards, cheerfully whistling a tune like she hadn't just been plotting a prison break. "All done boys!" She said, pretending to lower her voice even though it was still loud enough to carry down to Levi. "I told him the stuff was medicine and he guzzled it up like a small child. The draught is powerful stuff so he should be out cold in a couple of minutes. You all can go home and get some rest."

"Thank you doctor, that's really appreciated." The main guard said, relief evident in his voice. "We'll wait until he's out for the count, then we'll check up on him and go. You've been a massive help Miss Hanji… would you pass on our thanks to Commander Erwin too?"

"Of course." Hanji replied. "Goodnight gentlemen!"

Levi waited until the sound of her footsteps had faded away before ripping the stopper out of the bottle. There was no time for him to waste; the sooner he got to Eren, the sooner he could get him to safety. He tipped his head back and gulped down the water, making his swallows as exaggerated as possible just in case the guards were listening. The key slipped into his mouth and he trapped it to the roof of his mouth with his tongue. He knew if the guards decided to search him whilst he was pretending to sleep, they wouldn't even think to look in his mouth. And even if they did, he could always bite their fingers off.

After finishing the water, he threw the bottle into the corner of his cell, watching as it shattered like a blue firework. Outside, he could sense the guards were now holding their breath, waiting for him to fall unconscious, but he kept himself still. He couldn't fall asleep too quickly or they would get suspicious.

Two long minutes passed, each second feeling like an hour, and Levi started to groan. "What did that bitch do to me?" He moaned out loud, shuffling over to the back wall of his cell and facing away from the door. The key in his mouth made his speech slurred which he found added to the whole charade; it made him sound drunk or like he had been drugged. Then, he slumped dramatically to the floor, hitting his head on the stone floor a little too hard and making his head spin a little. He closed his eyes and kept his breathing even; if he started snoring and it sounded too ridiculous, the guards might suspect he was acting up. He lay there motionless for another long minute, the metallic taste of the key filling his mouth. At first, he couldn't hear any movement but then, after another long minute, he heard scuffling and the sound of approaching heavy footsteps.

"Is he out?" A deep voice asked, sounding like it was from directly outside his cell.

"He looks out for the count already." Another different voice marvelled. "That crazy bitch really knows her stuff. I'm never getting on the wrong side of her."

"Aw." Another voice mockingly cooed. "He's sleeping like a baby."

"That's means we can go now right? I'm exhausted."

"Wait." The head jailer gruffly spoke over them. "We need to check before we can leave."

Levi felt himself tense as the lock clicked from behind him and the heavy cell door swung open. The jailer took a few steps into the cell and he forced himself to stay still and breathe. Part of him still wanted to leap up and smash the man's head into the wall but he kept himself restrained. Even if he did fight off all of the guards, he would be in no fit state to help Eren; that was the only thing keeping him on the ground.

The head jailer leaned over him and nudged his arm gently with the edge of his boot. When the arm flopped lifelessly to the floor without so much as a stir from Levi, he gave a wide grin and turned to the others in triumph. "Good news boys, we can get out of here." He said, earning a cheer from the rest of the guards. "He's out like a light, there's no way he'll wake up before morning. Pity… I kinda wanted to see his reaction when we kill his little puppy."

Levi clenched his teeth hard, feeling his skin bristle at the words, but he made himself stay still. He was so close, he couldn't afford to blow it at the last minute. He waited as the jailer walked out of the cell and relocked the door, giving it a small shake just to check it was still firmly in place. He let out a long breath when he heard the sound of them walking away, their voices and footsteps getting fainter with each second. It was only when the corridor was completely silent that he sat up and spat the key out, recoiling when the metal slimy with his own saliva hit his palm.

"Disgusting." He muttered as he stood up and quickly went to the door, jamming the key in the lock. After a couple of twists and a few muttered curses, the lock clicked and the door swung open, like it too was desperate for him to leave. Levi fell out into the corridor, almost stumbling in his haste. Finally, he thought, I'm out of there. Then, with a sly look on his face, he closed the door and locked it back up, putting the key in his pocket with a chuckle. That will fuck them up when they come back to check on me. Now to find Eren.

Transforming into a wolf so he could blend in with the shadows, he padded his way down the corridor. Hanji had said that Eren was in the very last cell on this corridor which was thankfully, one of the very few cells Levi had actually visited though he didn't like to dwell on why. It was one of the largest cells that had been built in one of the corners of the building, right into its foundations. Among the pack, it was jokingly called the Two-Time cell, because it was said that the door would only open twice; once when they threw you in there and once when they took you out for execution. It was the cell where the pack put their worst offenders and its gruesome status was further marked by the amount of chains that hung from the walls, ready to hold down unruly prisoners. It was one of the very few cells that actually had any natural light come in, as it had a small metal grate at the very top but even that was meant to torture the sorry souls who ended up there as the grate looked out on the spot where the pack built their gallows. Prisoners could hear the sound of their own instrument of death being resurrected and it was rumoured to drive men mad. Executions were thankfully very rare in the Survey Corps but the reputation of the place was still enough to put shivers down anyone's spine and the cell was usually given a wide berth by everyone. Levi gritted his teeth when he thought about it. He knew Hanji hadn't mentioned the name of the cell to him in case it sparkled a violent reaction in front of the guards and she had been right to do so. Levi knew if he had heard Eren was in the cell for those awaiting execution, he would have broken down the door there and then to get to him.

The corridor was empty as he made his way down it, something he expected from such a miserable place. Nobody went down to the basement unless they really had to and tonight especially, no one would have been willing to go near it thanks to its new occupants. He kept moving as the corridor got darker and darker and continued to twist and turn, making Levi feel like he was following the trail of a giant snake. He was almost on the point of despair, thinking he would never escape from this labyrinth when he caught sight of a small light up ahead. As he ran towards it, he heard voices and his heart lifted when he recognised one of them was Eren's.

"Ah! Sorry, that hurts a little…"

"I know it does sweetheart and I'm sorry but this needs to go on your back for it to heal. You're doing great, just keep it up a little longer…"

Levi sharply rounded the corner to see the door of the Two Times cell wide open and Eren and Hanji positioned in the middle of the room, their figures illuminated by a single flickering candle. The orange light cast shadows over the walls, concealing most of the chains and rusted cuffs Levi knew were there. Still in wolf form, he stepped into the cell, partly relieved to see Eren was in Hanji's safe hands but still horrified at the state he had been left in. Eren was kneeling in the centre of the room on floor scattered with dirty straw, his ankles pinned to the floor by rusted loops of metal. His wrists were once again encased in heavy metal cuffs and they were dangling above his head from chains attached to the ceiling. Even if he had been able to stand up, he couldn't have moved far; Levi doubted he could have even reached the walls. He was still dressed in only his trousers with no shirt to cover the open wounds on his back and as a result, the room stank of blood. Levi could see that some had dripped into the seat of his trousers and onto the floor and he once again felt sick. The guards had clearly left his wounds to fester, perhaps hoping they would get infected and cause the young man more pain. Wanting to try and comfort Eren, he walked over to him and gently nuzzled his face with his soft muzzle, enjoying how Eren gasped with joy and started to nuzzle back.

"Levi." He said, an infectious smile breaking out over his face as the black wolf licked his cheek. Behind him, still tending to his wounds, Hanji gave them both a fond smile.

"Took you long enough to get here." She told Levi as he transformed back into his human form in front of her. "I was almost beginning to think I'd given you a real sleeping draught."

"Shut up." Levi said but there was no viciousness behind his words. He turned back to Eren and put his hands to his face, running both his thumbs across the young man's cheekbones. "Are you alright? Did those guards hurt you anymore? If they did, I swear I'll rip all their heads off…"

Eren gave a weak chuckle. "Don't worry Levi, they didn't touch me after they took us out of the hall- I think they were a bit scared to, after you admitted I was your mate." Levi gave a growl that sounded like "Too right" and Eren laughed again. "I also don't think they wanted to get their hands anywhere near my back- one guy got my blood on his fingers and he looked like he was going to puke. They just put me in here, chained me up and left. One of them said he would be back for me in the morning and when they did, nobody was going to save me, not even you."

He went quiet for a moment and Levi turned away from him for a moment to look at Hanji. She was kneeling on the ground behind Eren, bloodied rags littered around her knees where she had been trying to stem Eren's bleeding. She was spreading a thin layer of thick green paste across his wounds and Levi could smell its strong herby aroma from where he sat. He could see she had a stack of bandages ready on her lap but her face was worried. She saw him looking and gave a sigh.

"This really isn't good." She said, her voice gritty as she worked. She kept her eyes stubbornly on Eren's back, avoiding Levi's gaze, and when Eren gave a sharp intake of breath, he saw her flinch. "He's lucky I still had some of this medicine left or there would be no way in hell I could stop this getting infected. I've managed to stop the bleeding but he's lost a fair bit of blood already. I can bandage him up but I've run out of painkillers and there's not much point if tomorrow…" She went silent for a moment, her hand stilling in her work before she continued even more briskly than before. "How could they do this Levi? Taking someone and nearly killing them, just because of a stupid war that ended years ago… and now Erwin wants to start fighting all over again? What could he be thinking, thinking this is right?"

"I don't know Hanji." Levi sighed. "I wish I did know. I wish I'd seen this more clearly, if I had realised sooner and not spent so much time defying him…"

"That was my fault though." Eren piped up. "I was the one who kept encouraging you to leave your camp to see me… maybe if I hadn't, you would have figured it out sooner. Maybe if you hadn't met me, none of this would have-"

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence you idiot." Levi snapped, looking directly into Eren's eyes. "Don't even try to say that any of this is your fault because it's not. Nobody here knew what was coming and Erwin was our own damn Commander, not yours. I should have protected you better. If I had been down at the lake when those guys took you, you would have been safe." He leaned forwards and pressed his forehead to Eren's, feeling how he was shaking and trying to hold back tears. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you tomorrow, OK? I'd sooner die myself than watch you get executed in front of all those bastards…"

"Don't say that!" Eren blurted out crossly. In his anger, he couldn't stop a few tears from falling and in the candlelight, they glowed like diamonds. "You are not dying on my account, I refuse to let that happen! Don't you dare pull some stupid sacrifice bullshit on me Levi, that won't help either of us. If I was out of these chains right now, I would punch you."

Levi snorted. "Like you could punch me." He said softly, his thumbs wiping away the streaks of water on Eren's face. "But I still won't let them hurt you. You know it would kill me if they did."

"I know." Eren answered tearily. The chains above him rattled as he tried to move his hands down to touch Levi and he bit his lip when they dug painfully into his wrists. "Just promise me you won't get hurt too."

"I promise I won't." Levi said, giving Eren a small smile before he leaned forwards to press his lips to his. The kiss was tender but desperate and Levi felt his hands clutch at Eren's hair like he was going to be ripped away that very second. He didn't want to think that this could be their last kiss or that in only a matter of hours, this man could be torn away from him forever. They eventually had to break apart for air but Levi kept his grip on him. He wasn't going to let tomorrow happen, not if he could help it.

"Awww," he heard Hanji say, from behind Eren, her smile wide as she cooed at the pair of them. "You two are so adorable. I never thought I would see you like that Levi, I only thought you two were this sappy down at the lake."

The two men suddenly froze in place at her words, unsure for a moment if they had actually heard them. When Hanji shot them a knowing smirk as she continued to tend Eren's back, both of their eyes went wide and they darted to look at each other in alarm.

"You… knew?!" Eren said, stammering a little with an expression of pure panic on his face. "For how long?!"

"Only a few weeks." Hanji shrugged. "I found out the day Erwin banned us from leaving the camp without his express permission."

"And you didn't think to say anything about it that whole time?!" Levi confronted her angrily. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you didn't want anyone else to know." Hanji replied matter-of-factly. She dabbed a last blob of herby cream on the back of Eren's neck before giving a satisfied nod and picking up the bandages. She then began to wind them carefully around Eren's body, pausing in her work when Eren hissed or flinched in pain to add more cream. "You seemed very determined to keep it to yourself and I thought if I did let it slip, it might get back to Erwin and cause you more trouble. And besides, if I had said something, I imagine you would have denied it or gone apeshit at me. Am I wrong?"

Levi silently fumed, glaring at her with blisteringly hot eyes but he didn't reply and Hanji gave him a smug smile. Eren was still staring at her with something akin to confusion and horror in his eyes.

"But, how did you find out? We thought we were being so careful…"

"Careful?" Hanji laughed, tossing her head back as one hand clutched at her chest. "You might have been being careful sweetheart but your boyfriend here certainly wasn't. If he thinks he was covering it all up, he needs a little lesson in subtlety. Everyone in the pack suspected something was up with him. It seemed like one minute he was the biggest angriest grump on the planet and then overnight he transformed into someone who almost had actual human emotions. Heck, at times he was practically pleasant and that really freaked people out!" She cackled with laughter again. "Those times were really funny. What made it better was when anybody asked him if something was up with him, he then bit their heads off and sulked about it. It only made it more obvious really."

"I wasn't that bad." Levi grumbled but he looked a little shamefaced. Hanji snorted.

"Believe me, you were awful. Once I asked you what was going on with you and you threatened to throw me at a wall."

"Now that I believe." Eren said, causing Levi to look at him betrayed and Hanji to laugh out loud again.

"Oh, I like him Levi. I didn't realise cute and funny was your type."

"We are getting off point." Levi said, swiftly changing the subject as Eren giggled and Hanji beamed innocently at him. "I still don't get how you went from me being a little less grumpy than normal to finding out about us. You can't have got that all just from me."

"Oh, that part was easy." Hanji told him. "Do you remember that day when I came and told you Erwin had changed the rules on leaving? You were incredibly antsy that day and I was curious as to why. I had been speculating for a while on what was going on in your head and most of my theories centred around a secret something you were doing outside of the camp. I just couldn't think of what. So, when you transformed and left, I transformed and followed you. You went down to the lake as I hid in the trees and I was watching you and thinking, what does he do here, fish? And then this cutie pie jumped out of the trees and ran over to you and it all became clear." She gave a wide wolfish grin and Eren's face went deep red in embarrassment. "You two then disappeared into the bushes and it wasn't very kid-friendly after that."

"You fucking watched?!" Levi close to shouted, his voice thunderous.

Hanji pulled a face. "Of course not! I may be interested in biology but I wasn't that curious. I stayed hidden in the trees. There's no way I wanted to see that. Besides, I didn't need to see to know what was going on- neither of you were being particularly quiet."

It was at that point when Levi's face treacherously turned red, the colour blooming on his pale skin like a spill of red wine on white cloth. Eren looked suddenly like he would rather have been discussing his own execution than this and Hanji laughed again.

"Oh come on, you didn't really believe you were quiet were you? I'm surprised your cover wasn't blown sooner honestly." She grinned before she once again went serious. "Still, I must admit, at first I thought that was all it was. I thought maybe you were just mellowed out because you were getting laid and that it was just some sort of stress relief. It wasn't until you were leaving and I saw you two saying goodbye did I realise you were in some sort of relationship. And I never imagined you two were mates. That's why I was so surprised in the hall earlier when you declared it in front of everybody- I never even considered it was that serious."

"Well if it's any consolation, I didn't think it was going to happen either." Levi told her with a wry smile. "The first time I set eyes on this brat, I nearly pounced on him for trespassing."

"I seriously thought he was going to kill me," Eren piped up smiling. "And then you ended up teaching me how to skim stones and you couldn't get rid of me."

"I know, I really bloody tried to." Levi said, making Eren laugh again. "You were a persistent little shit. I kept telling you not to come to the lake but you kept showing up like a bad penny."

"But I won you over eventually," Eren grinned, somehow managing to look incredibly smug whilst chained up and being bandaged. "With my charm and good looks."

Levi snorted. "Yeah right. More like I took pity on you."

"Hey!" Eren pretended to look affronted but he was still laughing. "Come one, admit it, I won you over."

"Yeah you did." Levi said, chuckling again. "And it was all going so well until your sister tried to murder me and nearly cut your head off in the process."

"Wait, what?" Hanji froze in her bandaging as her head suddenly appeared over Eren's shoulder. "I'm not the only one who knew about your two? And you nearly died?"

"Not really." Eren told her, looking slightly awkward. Levi knew he would be rubbing the back of his neck if he had his hands free and he was suddenly very tempted to do it for him. "My sister and best friend, like you, realised there was something up with me and they also followed me to the lake and heard… what you heard. Except unlike you, my sister got very angry and confronted us both on the beach. It all became a bit of a mess and she nearly ended up attacking Levi, only I got in the way. That's how I got that huge scar on the back of my neck." One of his chained hands feebly gestured to it and Hanji gasped.

"I was wondering where that had come from!" She said, almost in wonder. "That really was a close call! Whoever patched it up did an excellent job!"

"That was my friend Armin." Eren said proudly. "He's really knowledgeable about herbs and stuff, he knows a lot about so many things. He helped to calm my sister down and he was the one who said to give Levi a chance…" His voice trailed off and he suddenly looked in pain. "God, they are probably both waiting for me to get back, Mikasa will be having kittens. And the whole pack is in danger, all of my friends… we have to get them away from there!"

"We will." Levi told him, his hand stroking his cheek reassuringly. "But before we can do that, we need to get you out of here and as far away as possible. Hanji, are you finished with those bandages?"

"All done!" She trilled, holding up her empty hands. "I'll need to change them at some point though, I'm not risking infection with those wounds. And those were my last ones as well."

"We can worry about that later." Levi said, standing up and forcing himself to move away from Eren. He was already scanning the walls, trying to look for a way out but it seemed an impossible feat. There seemed, at first glance, to be no way out. The walls were all made of thick stone and even if they did manage to dislodge one, they would have to dig their way to the surface at the other end, which they were too exhausted to do and didn't have enough time for. The cell door where he and Hanji had come in was wide open but the only way out through there was back through the hall and trying to escape there would be both reckless and hopeless. Even though Hanji had sent some of the guards home, Levi knew there would be others prowling around the whole camp and there was no way the three of them would be able to fight their way through, especially when one of them was so injured. And, he realised, even if they could find a way out of the cell, Eren was still chained up. Hanji's keys clearly didn't work as if they had, he would have already been free and, despite the fact they were rusted over and probably weakened, Eren didn't have the strength to break out of them himself. Levi swore loudly. The situation already looked hopeless.

Unless… He stared up at the small grate at the very top of the wall, the only point in the room that was letting in a slim line of natural light. Unlike the walls, the grate was above ground and if he stared closely enough, he could see a few blades of grass peeping through, like they wanted to peer at the prisoners. Levi took a step closer and tried to reach up to it, finding his fingers skimmed the stones only a few feet below it. There was a chance that this could work but it was a very small one. It was a chance he would never normally have taken but at the moment, it appeared to be their only option.

"Hey Hanji," he said, turning his head back a little to look at the two kneeling figures behind him. "Have you taken a look at this?"

Hanji squinted up at the tiny grate and shrugged. "Not really. I haven't really looked around this place if I'm honest with you, I had enough of a job here with your boyfriend let alone thinking of how to get out of here. I didn't really want to dwell on this place either, it really gives me the creeps. The Two Times Cell really does live up to its reputation."

"Two Times Cell?" Eren asked confused but the other two didn't answer as Levi motioned for Hanji to come over.

"Hoist me up so I can get a closer look at this thing."

"Aw, look at you trying to reach it." Hanji cooed as she walked over to him, ignoring the stern look he gave her.

"Just hurry up so I can get us out of here."

"Righto!" She said with great enthusiasum, giving a little salute before she crouched down like a frog and wrapped her arms around Levi's knees. Then, before Levi could object to it, she lifted him straight up with a startling speed that made it look like he weighed no more than a feather. It was so quick that Levi nearly fell backwards and he had to grab hold of the grate to stop himself from falling.

"Fucking hell Hanji!" He cursed loudly. "When the fuck did you get this strong?"

He felt himself bob as she shrugged. "Eh, sometimes the patients needs to be held down." She said casually. "It helps."

There was a moment of dead silence as both Eren and Levi contemplated how Hanji had never been thrown in this cell already. It was only broken by the sound of grunting and rattling chains and when Levi sharply turned his head, he saw Eren trying to stand up, gritting his teeth as his feet slipped on the bloody dirty floor and the chains kept him down.

"Eren, what are you doing? Sit down!"

"No I want to help!" Eren replied determinedly, still attempting to get upright. "I can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"Eren don't make me come back down." Levi warned him but Eren paid no heed and he gave an angry sigh. Eren could be incredibly stubborn when he wanted to be and, whilst Levi did admire his dogged determination when it came to most things, it could also be extremely annoying when he refused to give up on something.

"Eren sweetheart, you need to sit down." Hanji said, sounding surprisingly sensible after what she had previously admitted. "Your body is very weak after what you went through and you've lost a fair bit of blood. You need to save your energy for getting back to your camp and raising the alarm- you won't be any good for that if you strained yourself on something pointless now."

"See?" Levi said, giving Eren a firm look. "Brat, you need to rest. Listen to the damn doctor, she may be insane but she knows her shit about this stuff."

Eren pouted at him but he stopped moving and Levi turned back to face the grate with relief. Hanji's added boost mean that his face was positioned right in front of it and through the gaps in the metal, he could see the long expanse of ground and the sky outside, which was slowly getting lighter. That made him hiss under his breath. They really didn't have much time.

He poked at the catches around the grate and was surprised when, instead of stone, his fingers met with crumbling dark earth. The joints between the grate and the wall were loose and when he shook it, the grate visibly moved like a wobbly tooth ready to fall out of a child's mouth. He grinned; Erwin had thought of everything in his prison but he hadn't thought to replace this. It must had dislodged a little when I grabbed it just now, he thought. That means it must be old. He turned and looked down at Hanji with triumph. With so many chains on the walls, Erwin must have assumed that nobody would ever get near the grate and that was now going to be his downfall.

"The grate is loose." He announced. "It's only held in by earth and it's already falling apart. If I can punch it out and make the hole bigger, we can get out of here."

"Well why are you just standing there talking about it then?" Hanji said excitedly. "Punch it out already!"

Levi didn't need telling twice as he threw his fist into the centre of the grate. Pleasingly, the metal was much flimsier than he had thought and it crumpled like paper. He hammered away at it, using all the force he had used on his cell door. It didn't take long for his fist to suddenly punch out into the open air and he couldn't help a small smile of satisfaction creeping onto his face when he pulled his arm back and watched the remaining splinters of metal fall to the ground. Hanji whooped, jumping up and down in her excitement and making Levi feel dizzy.

"Great work Levi! Now start digging so we can bust this place!"

"You sound way too excited to be doing this." Levi huffed down at her, once again having to grip what remained of the grate to keep himself steady.

"Are you kidding me? This is the most exciting thing to happen in months." Hanji said gleefully. "You've been the only one able leaving the camp for the last few weeks, everyone else was banned. All I've been able to do is sit and count my dwindling supplies and that's just miserable. This however, this is some real action!"

"I'm glad we're providing you with some entertainment." Levi replied dryly before he realised something. "Hanji, I'm probably going to have to transform to be able to dig."

"OK, go for it Levi!" Hanji said brightly. "You do what you have to do to get us out of this creepy place. Don't worry, I've got you." She squeezed his knees to emphasize her point and her strength nearly made Levi buckle.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked, his first instinct thinking that this was a bad idea. Hanji however, didn't seem to be entertaining the possibility that this could go wrong and she smiled up at him.

"Yes, now try it!"

"Alright." Levi said quickly before he closed his eyes and transformed. Within a few seconds of him taking on his wolf form it became very apparent that his first instincts had been correct as Hanji, who had forgotten just how much bodies changed during transformation, was instantly batted in the face by Levi's suddenly grown tail. Falling backwards, she had to hurriedly grab at Levi's hind legs which had not only become slimmer and had the knees bent the other way but were also slippery with slick black fur. Levi let out a yelp as he was yanked backwards and he felt himself swaying violently as Hanji tried to regain control. He dug his claws deep into the dry earth to stop them both from toppling over and it was then when Hanji was able to stabilise them both by putting Levi's back paws on her shoulders. The two of them then stood still for a long moment, firmly keeping themselves upright as they came down from their spike of panic whilst behind them, Eren started to giggle.

"I've got you, my arse." Levi huffed as Hanji gave a weak laugh of her own and Eren snorted. Levi turned his head back to fix him with a thin-eyed glare. "And brat, stop laughing, we're trying to break you out here."

"Sorry Levi," Eren smiled up at him with mirth still on his face. "But you have to admit that was pretty funny. You two looked like the worst circus act in history." He giggled again and Levi rolled his eyes.

"Glad to see you found some humour in this situation." His words sounded sarcastic but there was a large part of him that genuinely meant it. After what Eren had been though, with the kidnapping, the horrific beating and the threat of execution looming over his head like a dark cloud, it was good to see a smile back on his face. Levi could see a gleam in his green eyes that hadn't been there all night and he hadn't even realised he had missed it. Seeing Eren and Hanji staring at him oddly, he gave a cough and turned back to the grate.

"OK, let's get out of here."

As Hanji held him up, he began to frantically dig, letting his wild instincts take over as he scraped at the hole's edges. Dark dry earth was peeling from the wall all around him, getting caught in his fur and showering Hanji with a spray like crumbs. He could feel the dirt clogging up under his fingernails and he shuddered at the unpleasant feeling but he still continued, even more savagely than before. As more of the wall opened up, he could see more of the sky and to his dismay, it was getting lighter. We can't be more than a couple of hours from dawn, he thought with cold dread. We need to get to Eren's camp soon or else we'll be too late…

"Levi! I think it's big enough now!"

Levi froze. He hadn't realised how absorbed he had been in his thoughts or how big the hole around him had gotten. It was now a wide gaping semi-circle at the top of the wall, about the size of a window. It was the perfect size for Levi to walk through and he scrabbled fiercely at the dirt to pull himself up. Hanji gave him a boost and he suddenly found himself outside, grass tickling the pads of his paws as he stood at the side of the hall. He turned to look at the front, half-expecting to see a whole legion of guards bearing down on him but, to his surprise, there was no one there. The entire centre of the camp seemed empty and even though he gave a sigh of relief, Levi knew that was bad news. That meant the pack was elsewhere, setting up for the attack, and that meant they really didn't have much time left.

"All clear!" He called down into the hole, hearing Hanji give a quiet whoop. "Can you get Eren up here?"

"We still need to get him out of his chains first." Hanji told him. "But I have an idea. Get me a sharp rock from somewhere. These things are so old, I don't think it will take much to break them."

"Thank Christ for that." Levi said before he started darting around looking for stones. It didn't take him long to find one, a handy palm-sized dark grey one with a dullened point at one end, and he picked it up with his mouth and threw it down into the cell. "That one any good?"

"Perfect!" Hanji trilled and as Levi stuck his head back down the hole, he saw her pick it up and walk over to Eren, her stride quick and purposeful. "Eren, hold still, alright? Grumpy Pants up there will never forgive me if I hurt you by mistake."

Levi growled in support of the point and Hanji laughed right before she held the rock above her head. "Ready?"

Eren nodded, his body stiffening as he turned his head away and bit his lip. Hanji's arm came down faster than lightning and Eren felt his arm drop to the floor as the chain practically shattered. "It worked!" He cried out, lifting his arm and staring at it in awe. He still had the thick rusted cuff entrapping his wrist and there was a small length of chain dangling from it like a decoration but it was still better than before.

It didn't take long for Hanji to break all of the chains that were binding Eren and within moments, he was able to stand up and take a wobbly step. After hours of being forced to kneel, his legs ached all over and the pain burned like they had been drenched with fire but he still made himself stagger to the wall unattended. Hanji hovered by him, her arms spread wide in case he fell and when he reached the wall, she gently picked him up and boosted him upwards to where Levi was waiting.

"There you are, easy does it." Levi reached out for him, shifting back into his human form for only a moment so he could clasp Eren in his arms. He held him tightly, burying his face in his shoulder and when he felt Eren clutch him back just as desperately, his knees almost buckled. The sky was still getting lighter, speeding towards daybreak, and just the thought that it could have brought his love's death with it was too much to bear. He barely heard Hanji as she clawed her way out of the cell, a wide smile on her face when she saw the two of them embracing like the world wanted to tear them apart.

"Right boys," she grinned at them. "Shall we get going?"

Levi and Eren reluctantly separated, Levi giving his partner a small smile before he transformed and then nudged Eren to get on his back. "Ready." He said as he felt Eren grip his fur and grit his teeth for the rough journey ahead. "Let's go stop a war."


	14. Chapter 14

"He's still not back yet."

Armin looked up from the stack of maps he was intently studying to see Mikasa crouched anxiously on her bed by the window, her face framed by the dawn light that was steadily pouring through the glass and filling the room with light. The room was bright and visible but she had refused to pull the curtains open or put her small candle out. She was stubbornly staring out of a small crack in the curtains and the candle was getting wastefully low but she ignored it as she continued to peep out at the world. Armin gave her a worried look when he saw the redness of her eyes and the limp way she was leaning against the wall. He knew why she was forcing herself through this ordeal and why she was keeping up the pretence of night like it was a ritual. If she didn't admit that she didn't need the candle, if she pretended there was no dawn light flooding the room, it meant that the night wasn't yet over and Eren could still be safely home on time.

Mikasa briefly turned away from the window to glance nervously at Armin and he could see the fear in her tired eyes. The two of them had barely moved since Eren had left the previous evening and the air around them felt musty and stale like they had been in their dorm room unmoving for over a hundred years instead of just a night. They had both taken up their positions, Mikasa on the bed by the window and Armin with his maps at the desk, and they had been almost too scared to move. It was like a superstition inside them had insisted that they stay frozen in place, whispering in their ears that if they dared to move, Eren would never return. Both of them had obeyed that voice without question, not even wanting to fidget in case they disturbed the equilibrium of the universe and their actions sent Eren hurtling into disaster, but despite their best efforts, he was still not here. Armin leant forwards to peer through the gap at the window, looking at the bright world outside and frowned. He knew that it was only a matter of minutes before the whole pack would be awake, ready to start the day, and if his friend didn't return soon, his news of his disappearance would be across the camp in no time at all.

He bit his lip hard. They really didn't have much time left.

"Where could he be?" Mikasa asked, her voice rough and raspy from exhaustion. Both of them had tried to nap at various points in the night but whilst Armin had managed to get some sort of rest, Mikasa clearly had had none. Her worry for her brother was evident in everything she did, from the way her movements kept darting to the window like they hoped they would catch sight of him, to the blatant fear in her eyes. She knew something had happened to keep Eren away; he was usually reckless but he had never cut things this close before and every moment that passed without him appearing was only fuelling her anxiety. "He should have been back by now, what is he doing? He's not this stupid, right Armin?"

Armin couldn't respond straightaway. Like Mikasa, there was an itching dread inside him that was growing with each second, turning his blood into ice water running through his veins. It had started as a little niggling thought a few hours ago, when the night had slowly turned into morning, but now it felt like it had flooded into every part of him, making his body feel rigid with his fear. Something was most definitely wrong but there was a large part of him that didn't want to voice it out loud. It felt like if he did, it would make his fears concrete and then there would be no way of dismissing it. It would be a fact that his best friend was in trouble and that was something he didn't want to acknowledge.

"No." He eventually said. "Eren is many things but he is not this dumb."

"Then what is taking him so long to get back here?" Mikasa turned back to the window. "Any minute now we're going to be called in for breakfast and everyone is going to notice he's not with us. What are we supposed to tell them? Should we make out he's ill or something?"

Armin didn't answer. He stared down at the flurry of maps that were sprawled across his desk like fallen autumn leaves and he gave a sigh. He had been pouring over these maps all night, hoping he could find some answers and distract himself for a while, but both of those had proved fruitless efforts. Since that day when Eren had discovered Jean and Marco whilst they had been examining his maps, he had felt like something was slightly off. It felt like something somewhere was just slightly out of place and the feeling was so uncomfortable, he had found himself constantly pouring over the maps since then just to try and figure out where it was coming from. He had tried asking Jean and Marco for help but they hadn't been much use; although their relationship was now as strong as ever, Jean still felt resentful about the way it had come out to the camp and Marco, whilst he had sweetly tried to help, had no idea what Armin was looking for. In the end, Armin had resorted to trawling through the map room himself, lost in a sea of paper and ink he had helped to create. The lines of ink in his vision blurred as he fixed his eyes on them and for a moment, he wondered if he was going crazy.

"Armin? Armin, are you listening to me? What are we going to do?"

Startled, Armin jerked his head back up and turned to see Mikasa was staring at him. Trying to process her question in his overwrought head, he shrugged. "I don't know."

"How can you not know?"

"I just don't!" He snapped angrily, rubbing at his forehead where it felt like his head was going to explode. There was a short silence and he instantly regretted his anger; they were both under a lot of stress and shouting wasn't going to do a thing. "I'm sorry Mikasa, that shouldn't have happened. I'm being an idiot right now and I shouldn't be taking it out on you."

"It's OK." Mikasa replied, managing a small smile. "This is taking a toll on us both." She sighed and shook her head. "I still can't believe this is happening. A few days ago, we thought Eren was just sneaking out to get back on us and now, he's seeing our worst enemy and we're wrapped up in this big conspiracy. It's insane."

"It is." Armin exhaustedly agreed. "I never thought we would end up like this. Eren's always said there was something fishy about this whole business and we never really took it seriously."

"I guess we didn't want to." Mikasa said sadly. "I never wanted to think that our mother, your family, everyone we ever knew could have died for nothing. If the Survey Corps really are up to something, I can't think of what the consequences would be… it would be a disaster for all of us."

"I know but I still don't get why." Armin frowned, staring down at his papers with a burning look. "Something just… I don't know, it just isn't sitting right with me. I made a lot of these maps but some of them just don't seem right. It's really weird."

"You're probably just tired." Mikasa tried to comfort him. "Everything just seems weird right now with what is happening with Eren." The mention of his name made her look out of the window again and she gave a deep sigh. "I'm really worried Armin. Where on earth is he?"

"Something must have happened." Armin said with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"But what?!" Mikasa said frantically. "He's gone out to see Levi over a hundred times without us knowing, he should be an expert at this! And if something did go wrong, surely, he would have Levi there? I may not have liked the fact they were meeting up but I have to say that he could fight off anyone."

"Anyone except you if you were pissed off enough." Armin grinned at her and she grinned back before they both went sombre again. "I would have expected them both to have left that lake a while ago. Both of them know what is at risk, they aren't stupid. Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless someone found them."

Mikasa went ghostly white. "You really think that could have happened?"

"Maybe. That's the only explanation I can think of." Armin said. "They are meeting in Survey Corps territory and if what Levi said was true, their pack is in a pretty volatile state at the moment. If they were found together or they were overheard talking about the suspicious behaviour of both our packs, I don't think Levi would be able to talk his way out of it, even with his influence in the pack. After something like that, he might not have any influence at all."

"So, they could both be in trouble?" Mikasa looked ready to scale the walls outside and go rushing to the Survey Corps camp and Armin felt useless. He didn't know what to say to her to reassure her, especially when he was feeling so torn up and worried himself, and he feared the wrong words could send his friend into a full-blown meltdown.

"We don't know that yet. We have to remember, they are both experienced at this and capable of handling themselves." He said, trying to keep himself optimistic but he knew his voice sounded flat. His eyes kept looking between Mikasa and the maps and both were giving him a feeling of dread that he couldn't swallow. Something about their whole situation was so stifling and it felt like there was something obvious he wasn't seeing, like someone had put a veil over his eyes and it had turned him blind. The overwhelming feeling of wrong was too much for him to bear. "I'm going back to the map room."

"But what about Eren?" Mikasa said, watching him with wide eyes as he stood up and strode purposely to the door. "What if he comes back?"

"I won't be that long, don't worry." Armin assured her, his hand already on the doorknob. "I just need to grab a couple of things, I'll be back before you know it."

"OK." Mikasa nodded, still looking a little uncertain about him leaving. Armin could see how her hands had tensed into claws, like she was about to transform, and her shoulders were hunched over the windowsill so eagerly she was almost pressed into the glass. It was like she thought that if Armin left, he too might disappear and then she would be left alone. "Be quick." She added, the words more like a plea than a demand, and Armin nodded and smiled in response.

"I will." He told her before he quickly slipped out of the door, giving him no chance to waver in his resolve. If I stay in there, he thought to himself as he determinedly walked away, I don't think I'd get the chance to leave again and then we'd definitely drive ourselves mad. He looked over at the very light horizon where the sun had fully risen and he muttered a curse to himself.

"Dammit Eren. Where are you? Don't you know you're killing us with all this stress?"

Huffing, he turned away and focused on putting one foot in front of the other to get to the map room. All around him, he could hear the camp slowly waking up and a few early stragglers were already making their way to the canteen, hoping to get a quiet early breakfast. Armin knew he must look a sight from his night of little sleep; his blond hair was sticking up in tufts from where he had constantly raked his fingers through it and his eyes had large bags like bruises under his eyes. However, in this early morning crowd, he fitted right in and he made his way to the map room without any interruption.

He felt relieved as he turned the door and locked it behind him, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Even though at that moment his maps were tormenting him, the room was still a sanctuary for him and that morning, he felt its calm was needed more than ever. It was a small shed positioned in an odd place between the dorm rooms and the dining hall and its construction had been almost an afterthought in the camp, as shown by the fact the walls were made of all different kinds of wood that had been left over from the other buildings. It had been originally made as an extra storage room, possibly for food or random hunting tools, but now it had almost completely been taken over by Armin and his mountain of maps. Every inch of the walls had been covered in shelving and piles upon piles of paper had been crammed onto each one, with neatly-written labels placed underneath to show when they had been made and what area of territory they covered. A ramshackle desk that had been pinched from the Commander's office after he had a new one commissioned had been pushed against the far wall, paired with a simple wooden chair and, despite its wobbly legs, even more paper was heaped on top of its worn surface, making it resemble a donkey with a massive load on its back. The Commander had only allowed Armin to take it because the room also held copies of important documents and large boxes with black stamps of 'Do Not Open' were stacked on either side of the desk like columns from a Roman temple. The room smelt of old books and spilled ink and the floor was dotted with little black spots from when other people had come to deliver ink and accidently spilled it. The only hint of the shed's original purpose was a collection of old fishing rods that leant against one wall which were covered in dust as they hadn't been used in years. The only reason they were still there was because they were the same kind of fishing rod his grandfather had used before he had died and so Armin didn't have the heart to throw them away. He stared at them wistfully now as he made his way towards the desk. What would his grandfather have thought of all this? He wondered. His grandfather had always been a loyal supporter of the pack and would never question its orders. He sighed deeply. He wasn't really sure he wanted to know.

Sitting down wearily at his desk, he reached for the nearest sheet of paper and trailed his eyes over it. He had told Mikasa that he would be back soon but for the next few minutes, he needed a few moments of peace. Being in the dorm room was far too stifling and he felt like he needed a bit of time just to let himself breathe. The peace and tranquillity of the shed was like a balm to his fretting soul and he was glad to just sit there and let it wash over him for a while. Letting out a long breath, he let his hand grasp around the desk to look for another sheet of paper and when he finally grabbed one, he whisked it in front of him to further inspect it. The map didn't look out of the ordinary but still he couldn't shake off that strange feeling. It felt like someone was at his back constantly poking him in the brain and the worst thing about it was he didn't know why. All he knew was that they seemed to be getting more and more difficult to ignore and he felt like he could do nothing to stop it. He went to reach for another sheet but just before his fingers touched the paper, his eyes glanced at the corner of the sheet and his whole body went still.

There was a smudge on the map.

Twisting back around, he stared at the black blot on the paper, blinking furiously like he expected it to disappear at any second. That definitely hadn't been there the last time he had looked through these maps and he suddenly felt like his whole body was numb. Like his friends were devoted to learning their swordsmanship and fighting, Armin was fastidious with his maps and he was always highly cautious when he created one. Not one line of ink could be out of place and if he happened to mar a sheet accidently by smudging it with a sleeve or with a brush of wrong ink, then he would start all over again on a new piece of paper. He always made sure his maps were perfect, yet here one was with a dirty great smudge in the corner glaring at him like a beacon. I would never have let that pass, he thought, his surety only confirmed by his next realisation. The smudge was oval-shaped and if he peered at it closely, the fainter spots of ink had tiny wriggled lines in them. That could only be a thumbprint, he realised with a jolt, and that meant only one thing.

Somebody had been messing with his maps.

Suddenly standing up and throwing his chair backwards onto the floor, he raced to the nearest shelf and started pouring through the maps, letting them fall to the floor in his hurry like they were petals he was pulling from a flower. Within moments, the shed had a new carpet of paper and ink and Armin was holding in his hand a few papers that confirmed his worst nightmare. His maps had been tampered with. On a few maps, the traces were so faint, you could barely tell they were there but on others, it was all too painfully easy to see. Inked lines that had been so carefully drawn had been wiped away, leaving the palest of brown shadows and other lines had been scrawled in different places. They had been done subtly, landscapes made a little longer, rivers put slightly to the east or west, ridges of hills made taller or shorter but they still threw off the proportions and made the map look completely different. In others, they had been even worse, completely moving key features or making them disappear altogether. It made him feel sick to see the damage and he stood there shaking for a long moment. Entire maps had been disfigured this way and it made Armin so angry, he wanted to rip them up. How could people do this to the collection he had been so devoted to for years? Who would think to do this?

Sadly, in his heart, he thought he already knew. As he groped his way back to the desk and shakily picked the chair back up, the weight of the situation dawned on him and he had to sit back down. The knowledge felt like a mountain had been placed on his back and it was close to suffocating. The higher-ups had to be responsible for this, they were the only ones who could be. The other soldiers never usually came in here other than to drop off supplies and they had no motive. The higher-ups meanwhile… he suddenly realised his hands were shaking in anger. He was furious, both at them for editing his maps, and at himself for not realising sooner. How could he have not realised this sooner? How long had it been going on for? He had been drawing these maps for years and it could have started at any point. The thought that his maps had been manipulated for so long made him feel even sicker than before and he had to let go of his evidence lest he tore it in his rage. He forced himself to calm down and let out a long breath. He had to get to the bottom of this.

Leaning back in the chair, he stared at the edited maps and thought about why hey had been altered. He knew it had to be involved with the war somehow, but he wasn't exactly sure why it fitted in. He had started the maps after the war had ended, why would they be involved? And what exactly would the leaders of their pack be editing out? This was their own land after all, surely it benefited them to have it mapped out in detail? His head hurt; none of this seemed to make any sense and it was all ridiculous. It was like the pack leaders were deliberately trying to confuse and delude them all. Why would they do that?

Frowning, his eyes glanced over at the tall stack of official boxes that were propped up by the desk and he felt his fingers twitch. He had been intrigued by what was in those boxes before but now the urge to open them was overwhelming. They were full of potential answers and that instinct was burning inside him. Tentatively, he got to his feet. The air around him suddenly felt thicker as he moved towards the boxes, like he was suddenly wading through a swamp. He reached the tall stack and he whisked off the top box to rest it on the desk. There would be no point looking through that one, he thought, the higher-ups wouldn't be that stupid. They wouldn't put crucial documents in the very first box, just in case anyone got curious and took a peak. No, I have to look in the bottom one, he thought as he heaved the rest, one by one, out of the way. That's where their darkest secrets will lie.

He dragged the last box out of the corner and crouched down in front of it, feeling the papers on the floor slip and slide under his knees. The box itself clearly hadn't been touched in a while; the cardboard was worn and crusty, like stale bread, and there was a thick layer of dust on the ridges of the lid where the other box hadn't reached. Armin gently blew it away before he carefully lifted the lid. The state of the box was so old, he didn't want to tear it and rouse suspicion. He caught sight of the big black 'Do Not Open' stamp on the side and it made him gulp a little. If anyone walked in here right now and saw what he was doing, he could easily get himself into some serious trouble. At best, he would be severely court-martialled or banished from the pack; at worst, he could be charged with high treason and executed. His fingers trembled a little at the thought but he still pushed on. He needed to know what was going on here. Everything that he had thought about his pack was beginning to fall apart around him and he needed the truth.

He carefully put the lid to the side and looked down into the box. It was stuffed with neatly arranged papers, all stacked closely together and as he had suspected, many of the documents looked out of the ordinary from the normal papers he saw in the camp every single day. Many of the sheets had been edged with red or black and others had been stamped with impressive words like 'Secret', 'Urgent' or 'Highly Confidential.' They looked strange and imposing and for a moment, Armin felt reluctant to touch them. Just the fact that he was looking at them was wrong but he pushed himself forwards and picked out one of the papers, slowly guiding it out of its tight nest. You have to know what they are doing, he told himself internally as he flipped the sheet over. For Eren.

The first few sheets weren't of much interest to him. Many of them were from over a decade ago and they spoke of issues Armin had no memory of. Camp layouts, criminal proceedings, even a list of missing food items… not many of them were interesting and Armin could feel his exhausted heavy eyelids drooping. However, when he moved from the red-lined papers to the black, things started to get more suspicious. The documents spoke of rebelling soldiers, ones who had questioned their superiors both during and after the war and some had their testimonies in them. They spoke of attempted rebellions, open and outlawed communication with the enemy, a strong desire to end the war from both sides. Armin could feel his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. He had had no idea all of this had been going on, let alone that people from both sides had wanted this and united to try and make it real. Did anyone know? He wondered as his eyes devoured the shocking lines like they were the finest food. I can't believe this was kept a secret for this long. The worst part was, he recognised none of the names that were mentioned on the lists. That means they must have been wiped out, erased from the pack's record, Armin thought and it made him feel sick to his stomach. Why are they doing this? Why are they so keen to keep the war going? These people from both sides just wanted it to end, surely that was what everyone wanted?

He leant back against the leg of the desk, feeling all of this new information hitting him like a sledgehammer. It was terrible but it still didn't seem to explain anything. Why was there a need to keep all of this a secret? If these people had rebelled but bought an end to the war, surely they would be heroes? He looked back down at the papers, the only record of dozens of lost voices. They had once been members of his pack, they had once lived here along side everyone else here. He had been a young boy at the time, when the war was still raging; he could have toddled past any one of these people at any point. He sighed deeply, feeling now like a thousand people were poking at his brain, demanding more. What part of this made any sense?

He was drawn back to the box and he started once again shifting through the black documents. Some had a thicker border than the others and he went for those first, feeling like they might be the best place to start. Each one seemed to have been created around the end of the war eight years ago. His eyes skimmed over battle plans, troop numbers and deaths, tactics and dwindling supplies… they all read like a tragedy as it was obvious the war had been turning against them. Armin winced at the statistics. The Maria pack had been a hair's breadth from losing, despite our so-called advantage in numbers, he thought. No wonder we had been so desperate to launch the Last Stand. It was probably our only chance.

As he sorted through the papers, he felt his fingers brush something that didn't feel like paper. He stopped, pulling his fingers apart slowly to peer in between the papers. That wasn't paper, he thought, I would recognise the feel of that anywhere. The thing he had touched had been smooth and soft, like fabric, and his eyes went thin as blades as they stared down at the depths of the box. Just what was hiding down there?

He started rummaging again and when he felt the strange sensation again, he grabbed hold of it and drew it out. He was surprised to see that it was a velvet ribbon that had been tied around a tightly folded document. It was a deep burgundy in colour and the paper was white and fresh, like it hadn't touched daylight until that moment. Armin turned it from side to side, intrigued. It had to be important, he thought, or else it wouldn't have been hidden away, nor would it have been tied with such an expensive ribbon. He ran his fingers up and down the ribbon, feeling his heart thud as he held it. He didn't know why but he suddenly felt like he was holding a ticking bomb and every instinct was telling him that he should throw it back in the box and walk away from it. Nervously, he lifted his hand to slide the ribbon off, letting it pool on the floor like blood. His fingers were still shaking as he unfolded the paper and he gritted his teeth to make himself get a grip. It's a piece of paper, he told himself firmly. It's nothing to be frightened of.

This paper oddly enough wasn't edged in colour and it felt like a new piece of paper, despite the fact it had been in the box for years. Armin noticed immediately that at the bottom of the page, there was a signature and he gave a gasp when he saw who's name it was.

Commander Erwin?! His thoughts spluttered out, unable to take in what was on the page in front of him. How could that be possible? How could we have a document with his signature on it? There were several other scrawled names on the sheet as well and each one only made Armin feel worse. Many of them were the names of the highest ranked members of their pack, including the name of their own Commander, sitting neatly next to Erwin's like the two were best friends. This can't be real, he thought, shuddering. How could this have come about? Unless…

He instantly began reading the text at the top of the page and the words that were neatly printed there in handwriting clear as daylight confirmed his worst nightmare. Scrambling to his feet, he kicked away all the slippery papers in his path, moving jaggedly towards the door with the frenzied energy of a demented man.

I need to go find Mikasa! He thought desperately, yanking the door open and running for his life. I need to tell her Eren was right all along… He panted as he threw the door open, letting the cruel bright daylight shine in on everything in the dark cabin like it was about to purge it all. The paper shone brightly from the floor, like it was squeaky clean, and Armin nearly tripped on it all as he dashed away from it, thoughts tumbling through his head like bits of shredded parchment. Everything we believed, everything we thought we knew was all a lie… he thought in terror, and now we're all going to die.

OOO

"We're almost there now." Eren said weakly, limply pointing a hand forwards as he dragged his feet through the dirt. The edges of his feet were leaving long shallow trenches in the earth behind him and they were moving slowly like each step could be his last. He was utterly exhausted; the three of them had spent the last couple of hours slowly making their way towards the Maria campsite and a journey that usually took Eren minutes when he was running in wolf form had seemed to him to take days. He hated the fact that he was so weak and that the other two had to take it in turns to shoulder his weight just so he didn't collapse. He had tried refusing, insisting that he could walk but he had only gone a few steps before he had nearly fainted and that had made him feel like even more of a burden. The only way he could be of use was to direct them through Maria territory and, now that it was dawn, he knew that morning scout patrols would be leaving camp at any second. He looked up at the sky with a sickening dread. They were almost out of time.

"Finally." Levi grunted next to him, his supporting arm gently patting Eren's back. He was proud of how well Eren had taken the harsh journey as it had been hard even on him and Hanji. Eren's bandage was now almost completely soaked in blood; the harsh pace of their journey hadn't given his wounds any time to rest and his body had been jolted multiple times when he was resting on the other's back, meaning many of the wounds had reopened. Eren was now significantly paler and every so often he would hiss in pain, trying to suppress the noise through his teeth. Levi had to commend him for his bravery and the way he was dealing with it without complaining but he also felt like calling him an idiot for trying to push himself too much. Maybe that Jean bastard was right, he thought quietly to himself. This brat does have some kind of death wish.

"This is such nice territory!" Hanji said brightly from next to Levi, trying to lighten the mood as she pointed up to the trees. "There are so many different trees and herbs here, I've already spotted several I've never seen in our lands. Now I know why we want this territory so badly!"

"Hanji, that is not fucking helping." Levi said darkly. If he hadn't had a tired Eren slumped over his shoulders, he knew he probably would have tried to throw her into one of those trees and he quickly turned back to Eren, resisting the urge to try it. "How much further do you reckon?"

"We're practically there." Eren told him. "You just walk through those trees and you should be able to see the walls…"

"Perfect." Levi smiled at him, feeling a small stab of anxiety as Eren tried to smile back but only managed a grimace. "Your sister is probably worrying herself to death right now."

"Damn, don't remind me." Eren groaned, managing a weak chuckle as he staggered forwards and nearly toppled over. "She's going to murder us both before any of the Survey Corps could."

"She sounds like a delight!" Hanji said, entirely without sarcasm. "I like her already."

"I'm sure you two will get on swimmingly." Levi commented dryly, earning a small snort from Eren. "So, what's the plan when we get inside?"

"We need to warn as many people as possible." Eren said solemnly. "I don't know if we'll have much time to get a proper army together but we can try. We still have greater numbers than your pack so it could work, plus they will lose their element of surprise."

"And we have to get you cleaned up again." Hanji told him, glancing worriedly at Eren's back. "Once we've finished with all this, I'm going to have you on bed rest for weeks. You've been through too much already, I don't want to think of you pushing yourself further."

"I can handle it." Eren said determinedly, trying to ignore how his body was tipping back and forth as he felt so weak, he could hardly stay upright. "Besides, we're here now anyways."

"Indeed we are brat." Levi said approvingly as they caught their first glimpse of the tall wooden structure. The wall loomed above them as they approached, the tall beams appearing to stare down at them in judgement, and Levi couldn't help but shudder a little. The last time he had been in this territory, he had been at war, fighting for every breath in a haze of blood and screams. His own side had been fighting to get to this wall, to get to the heart of their enemy pack and destroy it all but no matter how hard he had fought, their army had never come close. He held up a hand to touch the strong wood, the irony of his situation feeling like it was crushing him. Here he was, finally at the wall, yet he was here to warn the people inside about an attack that he could have potentially led. Fate really was a peculiar thing, he thought, and it really likes to fuck with you.

"So how do we get in?" Hanji asked, looking up and down the wall like she was expecting a magic door to appear. Eren quickly scanned the heavy beams, leaning away from Levi slightly as he examined them. After a short moment, he pressed his body against one and gave it a push.

"This one." He said triumphantly as the log yielded a little, moving with a creaking noise. "This is how I always snuck in and out, I just need to move it a little more…"

"Hey, don't strain yourself." Levi said as he rushed forwards and shunted the log away himself. "I'm not letting you damage yourself anymore, you'll break. We both need you alive for the next part of this."

"Yeah, without you, your pack won't listen to us." Hanji said as she rushed to help them both. "If we're alone, they will just think we're intruders. And it would look way worse if we were carrying your body."

"I'm fine!" Eren pouted at the two of them but his defiance lost his edge when he had to heavily slump against the wall, his face going grey as his legs wobbled beneath him. Hanji quickly scooped him up, pushing him through the gap in the wall with ease.

"Of course, my dear," she said breezily as Levi slipped through behind them and closed up the wall with a firm kick of the beam. "After some more blood and some rest, you'll be right as rain." Her voice was upbeat and sunny but she was practically having to carry Eren in a bridal style and as she passed him over to Levi, he could see the worried look in her eyes. It made him clasp Eren even closer to his body, ignoring the weak groan Eren made as he tried to put his feet back on the ground. The sooner they got Eren some proper medical assistance, the better.

"The camp is that way." Levi said, nodding his head in the direction of a cluster of wooden buildings in the distance. "Those look like the dorm rooms. That's where we'll find his sister and his friend, we need to get to them now."

Hanji nodded and the two made their way towards the buildings as quickly as they dared. Eren was beginning to curl up in Levi's arms, his head buried in the side of his neck, and Levi was worried about how the rest of his pack would take them. He had to admit, it didn't look great. He knew if two members of his enemy pack had stormed into his camp yelling, with one of his friends being carried in their arms looking close to death, he didn't think his reaction would have been too favourable. I would definitely have attacked them without a second thought, he thought as the wooden huts grew closer. Heaven knows what they are going to think.

He could spot a few people walking between the huts, making their way towards breakfast or the showers. They all looked about Eren's age and before he could think, he was yelling. "Help! Help! We need to get help!"

The young scouts all froze at the sound, watching with wide surprised eyes as the two strangers in unfamiliar apparel came running towards them like crazed lunatics. Several others, hearing the frantic shouting, came running out of the surrounding huts and before Levi and Hanji knew it, they had a crowd forming.

"Who's shouting? Does someone need help?"

"Who are these people?"

"Do you recognise them? I don't!"

"Who is the short one holding?"

"Is that Eren?"

The whispers grew louder as Levi and Hanji stopped in the clearing in the middle of the cluster of huts, unable to run anymore. Levi carefully lowered Eren to the ground as Hanji tried to keep the crowd back. He tried to keep out the buzzing noise that surrounded them, struggling to hear as Eren gave a low pained groan and tried to sit up.

"Levi…"

"It's OK, we're here now." Levi tried to reassure him but he could hear the panic in his own voice all too easily. "Hey, you fucking numbskulls, we need medical assistance here!"

"Well, that's one way to make friends," he heard Hanji lightly chuckle as she reached up to retie her hair. She quickly redid her ponytail, her eyes rapidly examining the murmuring and steadily growing crowd before she randomly pointed at one of them. "You! What's your name?"

"Err, Jean, ma'am." A voice that Eren immediately recognised spoke from among the crush of people, sounding nervous as Hanji fixed her eyes on him like a hawk on a mouse. "What's going on lady, what are you doing with Eren-"

"No time for questions!" Hanji cut him off abruptly. "Do you know where your pack's medical supplies are kept?" Jean nodded, backing away a little. "Well, go get some! I need bandages, some thread, painkillers, the lot! Why are you still here, move!"

Jean didn't need to be told twice as he rapidly turned and sped off towards the main camp. Eren managed a wide smile, grinning at the sudden embarrassment of his rival, but his smile quickly disappeared as Hanji sat him up and started to peel his bloodied bandages away from his back.

"This is not good." He heard her muttering as she slowly pulled them away and the ground became littered with pieces of crusty bloodied cloth. The crowd around them began to gasp and recoil at the sight and smell of congealed blood but Hanji paid them no attention as she continued her work grimly. There were still large lumps of the herbal cream she had put on his back caught on the bandages but they were now pink with blood and the ripping away of the cloth was causing many of the already open wounds to bleed more. "We need to give him a blood transfusion, fast. Can anyone here get me some blood?"

"I'll go!" Someone else in the crowd shouted and Eren watched as two people, one with a swishing brown ponytail and the other with a bald head, made a beeline for the main camp. Sasha and Connie, he thought, I didn't know they knew where the blood was… However, he didn't get much chance to think on that further as another frantic voice started screaming.

"Eren? EREN!" The crowd suddenly parted like the Red Sea as Mikasa hurled herself out of one of the nearest huts and came running over. When she reached the small group, she fell to her knees next to her brother, grabbing his hand and squeezing it with all her might, nearly causing some of the bones to break. "There you are, I was so worried you weren't going to get back! Where were you and what the hell happened?" She caught sight of the bloodied bandages on the floor and her brother's pale face and she looked ready to murder a whole squadron of soldiers. "Who did this to you?"

"Urm…" Eren said awkwardly, his eyes darting between Levi and his sister. "Well…"

"My pack." Levi said bitterly, his own hands clenching into fists. "We had no idea they were onto us, but Erwin, the suspicious bastard, sussed out I was meeting someone and he sent guards to wait by the lake. Eren got there before me and unfortunately, they captured him and brought him back to the Survey Corps camp. By the time I realised and got there… it was too late." He sighed. "They had already done this to him. They were torturing him trying to get information out of him, they thought he was a spy. I told them everything, that he was meeting me because he was my mate and I wasn't a traitor but Erwin twisted it all to make it sound like we were betraying my pack and he threw us both in cells. They were going to execute him in the morning and they're coming here now."

"What?!" Mikasa exclaimed horrified. "They're on their way now?!"

"I'm afraid so." Eren told her, wincing a little as Hanji peeled away more bandages. "They could be on us any second now, they said they were going to attack at dawn. They were going to execute me on the battlefield, that's why we had to escape from prison and come and warn you."

"They might have spent some time looking for us in the camp but it won't have brought us much." Levi added gravely. "We need to get as many people together as possible in preparation."

Mikasa bit her lip hard. "We're never going to get enough people together ready for a proper defence. It's a fool's errand."

"What else can we do? We can't just sit here and wait for them to come." Levi said. He opened his mouth ready to say more but he was swiftly interrupted by the return of Jean, who ran over to Hanji with his arms filled with every medical supply he could get his hands on.

"I brought the bandages ma'am." He said stiffly and was rewarded with a dazzling smile.

"Excellent work my dear boy! Pop them there will you, I just need to get these last few off and then we can start to patch him up… where are your little friends who went to fetch my blood? I need my blood right now!"

"They're just coming Miss!" A voice from the back of the crowd shouted as two figures carrying what looked like a lunchbox made their way quickly towards them. Both figures were heavily panting as they reached the crowd and when they got to Hanji, they dumped the box unceremoniously by her knees, Sasha almost collapsing as she did so.

"We got the blood…" She said wearily as Hanji slowly opened the box and beamed.

"Perfect! All the equipment is in here too! It's a same about the container though… no wonder your pack kept falling."

She quickly went to work setting up the transfusion but her words had been overheard by several members of the pack standing nearby and they shot through the rest of the crowd like wildfire.

"Did you hear what she just said?!"

"She said no wonder your pack kept falling… what does that mean?"

"She doesn't come from Maria! Nor does that short angry-looking guy!"

"They must be from the Survey Corps!"

"Get them!"

The crowd went to surge forwards and Levi's hands sprung to his waist for his swords but before he could even make contact with their hilts, Mikasa had stood up and thrown out her arms. Her grey eyes stared the crowd down, almost daring them all to step forwards and they all fell silent.

"All of you, listen to me," she said, her voice loud and authoritative as she addressed them all. "These people are not our enemy. These two are friends of Eren's and they both saved his life last night when he was taken by the Survey Corps. It's a very long story and quite frankly I'm not best pleased with his behaviour but I have something far more important to tell you." Eren gave a small chuckle and Mikasa quickly glared down at him before she continued. "Right now, the Survey Corps are on their way here, ready to make an attack. You all need to stay calm because we need to prepare…"

Her voice was suddenly lost in a wave of shouting as the people around them started to jostle against each other in panic. Mikasa's words had sparked fear and panic among the young soldiers, who had never faced a battle before, and they looked almost ready to start a riot. More and more people had emerged from the huts around them as the crowd had grown thicker and noisier and as the news that a Survey Corps attack was imminent spread like wildfire, the panic only grew. The scene was pandemonium; several people had started screaming and crying, clinging onto their friends just to keep them standing whilst others still there like statues with faces like chalk. Eren could just see Jean's face as he leapt up and began frantically scanning the crowd, clearly looking for the face of his beloved Marco, and he went to pull himself upright.

"Eren!" Hanji cried out as she tried to pin him back down again. "I need to do this transfusion right now! Can't you just stay still?!" However, her words fell on deaf ears as Eren shakily pulled himself to his feet, his teeth clenched as he fought against his pain and exhaustion to stand up. Hanji turned to Levi with pleading eyes, hoping that he would force Eren to sit back down but instead, he held out his arm and let Eren lean on it as he helped him up. He could feel in his bones how tired and in pain Eren was in his bones and it made him feel awful but at the same time, he could feel something burning inside him that he knew was coming from Eren's determination. He could feel Eren's desire to protect and help his pack and when he saw the look in his eyes, like a bonfire was raging inside them, he knew that they both needed to do this.

"Everyone, stop!" Eren shouted, his voice cutting through the screams and cries like a knife and the crowd of terrified soldiers fell silent. They all stared at him with wide scared eyes, like rabbits being confronted by a legion of foxes, and the air around them all felt like frail glass that could shatter and bring chaos at any point. Eren could feel their fear radiating off them in a strong wave and it nearly made him falter but the feeling of Levi's arm holding him steady and the feeling of calm he was sending to him made him feel stronger and he began to speak.

"Listen," he said, slowly and calmly. "I know that this is horrible shocking news and it's the last thing any of us wanted to hear. We can all remember the war from when we were small kids; we can all remember how much it took from us and how many people we lost. It's still a taboo subject here because it is so painful, nobody wants to talk about it. I was always the one trying to say that something suspicious was going on and nobody ever wanted to hear it which I can now understand; nobody wanted to be confronted with the idea that something so awful could ever happen again. I wish that I had been wrong but now it's real and it's going to happen. But I believe that we can survive this, we can win against their pack because we have something that they won't expect and that gives us a huge advantage- Captain Levi."

A huge collective gasp went up as the whole pack seemed to turn their eyes on Levi. He could feel their crushing stares like a mountain had just fallen on his shoulders and his skin felt like it was shrivelling under some of their gazes. A few of the soldiers, whose expressions had been taken over by anger, stepped forwards to grab him but they were swiftly stopped when Mikasa stepped in front of him and drew her sword. The look in her eyes sent them scuttling back into the crowd and no one else dared move as Eren continued to speak.

"I know that you all might be thinking I've gone insane," he told them frankly, his voice getting stronger and more passionate with each word. "If you had told me at the beginning of this year that I would be saying this, I would have probably punched you in the face but it's true. A few months ago, I decided to sneak out of camp in the middle of the night and I found myself in Survey Corps territory. It was a reckless and stupid thing to do but I don't regret it at all. It was there were I first ran into Levi at the side of a lake and the first thing he did was to tell me to leave and never return. However, for some reason I felt drawn to that place and I kept going back and after a while, I became friends with this man. Despite everything he did in the war and despite the fact he was my enemy, I couldn't help but continue to see him and I realised that this was because my feelings had become… stronger." He glanced over at Levi and gave him the smallest of smiles, a tiny glint of hope that made Levi reach over and grab his hand. The effect of that simple touch on the rest of Eren's pack was astounding as more gasps filled the air and many made sounds of complete shock. Jean who stood at the front looked ready to fall over and Eren took a tiny bit of glee from that but he kept talking, knowing he needed to explain himself.

"It was a massive shock to both of us too, believe me, and we never thought that we could be together but we soon realised it wasn't a choice, it was inevitable. Something brought us together by that lake and I never knew why until now. Without us meeting and falling in love, we wouldn't have been able to warn you all of the coming attack and you would have died in your beds. If we had never meet, these two people who saved me from certain execution wouldn't be here and we all would be completely ignorant of the attack. I now believe that we can win, that we can overcome this assault on our pack and on our home. I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't believe that. Even though the Survey Corps have torn at my back and taken my blood, I will still fight them. I refuse to let them restart this war and take even more from us! Who else is with me?!"

A huge roar suddenly erupted from the crowd as every soldier who was standing there raised their fists and cheered. The fear on their faces had given way to pure determination and courage and even Eren was surprised at the effect his speech had had on them all. Levi could feel the blood pumping around his body in pure exhilaration as he looked around him. Maybe these soldiers weren't as experienced or as numerous as the Survey Corps that were coming to destroy the camp but they now had some proper fight in their eyes and they had the advantage of being on home soil. We could actually do this, he thought for the first time as he glanced over at Eren who gave him a grin as Hanji was finally able to force him to the ground. We might actually win.

"Alright," he announced, his voice barking over the cheers as everyone went silent to listen to him. "What we need to do is properly create a defence, that way the other army can't get close enough to do any real damage. What I suggest is-"

"Wait!" A loud ragged voice suddenly interrupted him. Everyone turned their heads at the sound of heavily pounding footsteps as another frantically running figure bolted towards them, holding something aloft above their head as they ran. Eren tried to peer through the legs and bodies of the soldiers gathered around them to see who it was but it wasn't until they parted and he saw the person's tangled blond hair did he recognise who they were.

"Armin?" He said as his friend finally stood in front of him, his body bent in exhaustion and his chest heaving from the sprint he had just made. He lifted his head and Eren was shocked to see the state Armin was in; his eyes had large dark bags under them, his face was bloodless and he looked like he had just seen the world crumbling before his eyes. His stare was almost glassy as he looked over Eren and the heaps of bandages that surrounded him and his appearance scared Eren a little bit. Armin was usually in control and he was the least likely of the three of them to lose his grip on his emotions. Eren felt a lump of dread form in his stomach. If Armin was acting like this, something really must be wrong.

Mikasa clearly felt the same as she uneasily stepped closer to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Armin, what's wrong? Where have you been, the Survey Corps are attacking, we need to get ready to defend our camp-"

"We can't fight them." Armin cut over her, making Mikasa pull her hand back and causing the crowd around them to murmur. "It's already a lost cause. We need to get out of this camp now, before they arrive or we're all going to die."

"What are you talking about?" Levi cut in sharply. "Why do you want us to run away with our tails between our legs? I know this is daunting but that doesn't mean we can't stand and fight. This to stop the war once and for all-"

"It never stopped."

"What?" Eren said shakily, once again standing up to grip his friend's shoulders and shake them. "What did you just say?"

"The war. It never stopped." Armin repeated, his arm trembling as he held out what was in his hand. "I just found this and it changes everything. Eren… there's so much more to this than anyone knew and it is worse than we could have ever imagined."

Eren tore the paper from his hand as Armin continued to speak. "I found this hidden among the documents from the higher ups in the shed. I thought something strange was going on with my maps and when I checked them, I found out they had been tampered with."

"What?" Mikasa stared at him in disbelief. "Who would do that? And why? Those maps have been so useful to the whole pack."

"That's what I thought too." Armin continued, still looking haunted. "But there was a giant thumbprint on one of them and I would never have let that slide. Something about that… it just felt wrong so I decided to look in those boxes of documents and that's where I found this." He gestured once more to the paper, eyeing it like it was a loaded gun. "There were all these documents which had accounts of people trying to stop the war. They had been communicating with the Survey Corps and they tried revolting so many times but each attempt was brutally put down. They were all branded as rebels and struck off the pack's record, I didn't recognise a single name on there."

"People from both sides were trying to end the war?" Levi asked, his face growing stern. "But that makes no sense, I've heard nothing about this."

"Nobody did." Armin said sullenly. "It must have been kept a secret on both sides. That's why the higher ups don't want us talking about it. It's because they worry about what we might uncover if we do. Everything they have done in the past eight years has been to keep us quiet and naïve and that piece of paper is the reason why."

"What is this Armin?" Eren finally said, his voice quiet as his hands shook like leaves caught in a gale. He was trembling so much, he was close to ripping it and he let it go, watching it flutter to the floor with his heart pounding in his chest. "Armin, what is it?"

"It's the peace treaty." Armin told him. "Only it's really not."

Levi took a step closer, squinting at the words as Eren picked it back up and held it up for him to read, trying to keep his hands still. "I recognise this." He finally said. "Erwin brought something just like this back from the meeting where he negotiated peace. It was tied with the same ribbon and everything. Everyone was so thrilled about the fact the fighting was going to stop, we never thought to look at it and he hid it away." He looked up at Armin. "The war ended the day after that."

"It did end." Eren said, his voice wobbling like he earnestly wanted his words to be true. "Don't you remember Armin? All the soldiers came home and… the defences were taken down except for the wall… I don't understand…"

"You don't have to understand it to know it's the truth." Armin said firmly before he snatched the paper back and held it up high, letting everyone around them take a long look at it as he started to angrily shout. "Don't you all get it?! The war never ended! We're still living it! This was never a peace, it was a fucking truce! A break so both sides of this hellish feud could regroup! If we fight now, this war is just going to go on and on and it's never going to fucking stop! And now we have no chance because if we don't go, their army is going to come and our pack leaders aren't going to be able to do a thing about it!"

He threw his arm back down and even Mikasa looked worried as he continued to rage. Eren was completely stunned as he watched his friend; he had never seen him this angry before and it only brought home the seriousness of their situation. "We've all been lied to, we've all been taken for fools and this piece of paper proves it! It states that the war will end for a period of ten years, enough time for both packs to train a new army of soldiers and gather their resources. Then, once that time had passed, they were going to start all over again! Just because of this pointless hatred against each other! Our leaders here in Maria have been trying to prepare for years without telling us; they fudged my maps so that we would be confused and not realise they are redesigning defences, they struck people who fought to end the war off of the pack register so they couldn't become heroes and figureheads for another rebellion. They made the war a taboo subject so nobody would start asking questions and they kept us in camp so we wouldn't go exploring and discover what they were doing! And the worst thing is, the exact same thing happened in the Survey Corps camp, only they were better prepared than us! The reason why both camps have been on edge is because the deadline was approaching and Commander Erwin decided he was going to attack two years early and end this once and for all. And now, because of our leader's folly, we're all going to be thrust into the cycle of fighting and dying for nothing all over again." He looked back at Eren, his eyes beseeching him as he looked ready to fall to his knees and beg. "The only way we can stop this cycle, the only way we can get out of this alive is if we leave. Nobody is going to come and save us and if we stay, we will just get caught up in this war again. We have to go."

There was a long moment of silence as everyone tried to process the information they had just heard. Hearing that the war had never ended was like being thrown out of the sky and landing on hard stone and Eren felt like he had been whipped all over again. The news was devastating and he felt like breaking down and crying. He had always arguing that their pack leaders had wanted to restart the war, he had said it and been shouted down for years but there had always been a large part of him that wanted to be wrong. Finding out that he was right was horrible but he had to stay strong; if he collapsed now, it could spell doom for him and all the people he cared about.

"I agree." He said strongly as Hanji huffed behind him and began to pack away the blood for his transfusion. "Fighting now would be a waste of life. We need to get as many people out of this camp and far away as we can."

"But… what about our pack?" A scared voice shouted from the crowd.

"Our pack is dead to us." Eren declared, making a few people gasp and step back. "We can't stay in a group that demands we give our lives for something pointless and cruel. Everyone here is welcome to stay if they want but I know I won't be staying here to die. It's your choice."

Most of the crowd looked uneasy but Eren could see many people were solemnly nodding and a few, including Jean, went to rip the Maria insignia from their jackets. Eren turned to Levi with a small smile. "You wouldn't happen to be any good at evacuations too, would you?"

Levi chuckled and was about to answer him when the long hollow sound of a horn suddenly blasted through the camp. The long note was so loud, it made half of the crowd cover their ears and fear hit Eren like a stake through the heart. He turned to Levi and Mikasa and watched as the blood drained from their faces and they both drew their swords.

"We're too late. They're already here."

 _Hello again! This is just a warning that, rather amazingly, this story only has two chapters left! I never would have made it this far if my lovely readers hadn't left such amazing reviews on each chapter and forced me to get my butt in gear- all my thanks goes to you all for your encouragement. The next chapter is going to be the final battle and is likely to be a very long chapter so it might take a while. I will try my best to get it done before university starts again._

 _In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review! It honestly makes my week!_


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